Divided
by bookworm4497
Summary: Sequel to Reuniting! Nightwing has finally reunited with his family... and is promptly kidnapped by Slade. Again. Bats is clueless, and somehow Nightwing is still orchestrating everything despite the fact that he's been kidnapped.
1. League Part 1a

__Introducing... the sequel to Reuniting!

Yeah, I got off my lazy butt and actually wrote up a few chapters of this and decided to post it. This is going to be in sections, sorta, alternating between League and Nightwing, occasionally overlapping. This first section is League/Batman, and it's 3 chappies long. So don't ask for Nightwing for the next few chapters. He's coming chapter 4.

This starts off right where it ends. There's literally only about 5 minutes in the middle.

Oh, and if you have any suggestions for a better title, please tell me.

Italics is a flashback, if you can't tell.

DISCLAIMER: Due to the fact that this is highly unrealistic and so not going to happen, I'd say that I don't own YJ or TT.

* * *

_"Dick!" Bruce called out. "You doing anything later?"_

_"No." His son paused. "I was thinking of visiting Wally or Clark."_

_"How about you stay in? We can play some basketball, watch a movie- just like old times."_

_Bruce let his son think and was rewarded when his face lit up in a smile. "Sure, old man. Just like old times."_

_Bruce glared playfully at him. "I am not an old man."_

_"Sure, old man. Whatever you say."_

Was that really only a few hours ago?

Bruce sat on a bench outside of WayneTech, watching the chaos and bustle that surrounded him as the police and paramedics tried to figure out what had happened and repair the damage. The police had precious little to work with; no fingerprints, all the security cameras had been hacked- if it wasn't for the bullets stuck in Bruce's office walls, one wouldn't think that an assassin had barged in only a few minutes ago.

But he had. And now Dick was gone.

Bruce had been offered a shock blanket- because he had been targeted by an assassin for the millionth and third time, so _of course _he was in shock- but the same sense of pride that made him dress up as the goddamn Batman made him reject it. If he was in shock (he was rational to admit that he might be) it wasn't because of the assassin. It was because of Dick.

Commissioner Gordon strolled up to him and looked at him with concern. There was something in the man's face, in the way he slumped, almost like he had been defeated, that worried him. "You alright Bruce?" He asked quietly. Bruce managed a weak smile. "Fine. Can I go home now, or do you need to ask me some more questions?"

Bruce had told anyone who asked that all he knew was that a man in a black and orange mask had burst into the room and shot him in the shoulder. After that, the poison made everything a blur. No, he didn't know who the man was. No, he didn't know why the man had stopped at the shoulder wound instead of finishing the job. No, he didn't know who gave him the antidote to the poison. No, I don't know who sent him after me, I'm _Bruce Wayne, _I have more enemies than I can count. Frankly, it was exhausting.

The commissioner considered Bruce's request. "Why don't you call Alfred?" He suggested. "We don't need you on the scene anymore, but I don't want you driving either." "Fine." Bruce nodded, and pulled out his phone, dialing quickly.

"Alfred? Can you come pick me up from work?"

_"Master Bruce? I assumed you would be driving yourself back."_

"I was." Bruce sighed. "Things got a little complicated. Gordon doesn't want me driving myself back-" he interrupted himself to give Gordon a dirty look- "something about me still being woozy from the poison."

_"Poison?" _Alfred sounded alarmed.

"I'll explain later."

_"Of course. I'll call Master Richard-" _

"No. Don't." Bruce said abruptly. "It's… like I said, it's complicated."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. _"….very well. I shall be there soon."_

Bruce sighed and put away the phone. The commissioner was still eyeing him. "You sure you're alright? You seem a bit… off."

"I'm fine." Bruce said tersely. Gordon shrugged and moved on. If Bruce wanted to be stubborn, that was his problem.

Bruce, finally left alone, started going through everything that had happened in his head, trying to piece the puzzle together. The man was Slade, obviously, but why was a Titans villain trying to kill him?

Alfred pulled up near him, interrupting his thought. Bruce nodded towards the commish and got in the car. Alfred pulled out of the parking lot and raised an eyebrow at Bruce through the mirror.

"I do hope you have a good explanation for this." The butler said dryly. Quickly, Bruce outlined what had happened, finishing up with a question.

"What I don't understand is _why _Slade was in Gotham in the first place. What reason does a Titans villain have, halfway across the country, for assassinating me?"

Alfred stayed silent, eyes fixed on the road. Bruce narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You know something." It wasn't a question.

"Master Richard was looking at the old Deathstroke the Terminator files." He said quietly. "I do not believe it is a coincidence."

Bruce blinked and then swore. It fit. The name 'Slade' was a giveaway, as was the fact that one of the events leading to Deathstroke's disappearance had been his wife shooting out his eye in revenge for their son's death- leaving him with a single grey eye, like the one gazing out from Slade's mask.

"But what does he want with Dick?" Bruce muttered. He nodded to himself, coming to a decision. "Alfred, can you cancel any meetings I have for the next few days? A certain boy scout and I will be going to Jump to question the Titans."

"Is Mister Kent aware of this plan?"

"He will be." Bruce smirked. "And he won't have any objections to coming, either."

Clark could deal with the Titans while Bruce focused on finding his son. He _would _find Dick. He had to.

* * *

Clark next chapter.

League after that.

And Nightwing after that. That's all I've written so far.

If you guys have any ideas for anything, please tell me. I need inspiration!

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	2. League Part 1b

Holy shoot, long chapter. Over 1000 words! This is just because I'm enthusiastic about this at the moment. They'll probably get shorter eventually.

I meant to post this yesterday, but life got in the way. Oh well. It's going up now.

I had a comment about why I didn't just start with Bruce going to the Titans, so I want to adress that- or at least, something related to it. I'm trying to keep the story on sort of the same track- showing what'a happening with the League, and then showing what's going on with Dick _at the same time_. Each round of chapters happens simultaneously, or as close as I can get. For example, these three League chapters happen at the same time as the Dick chapters that are coming up. Then, the next round of League happens at the same time as the next round of Dick chapters. Sometimes, they'll overlap within the chapters themselves. Does that make any sense at all?

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and try not to let your complete confusion about above attempted explanation ruin it :)

* * *

Bruce paced in the Batcave, waiting for Clark. He had pulled up everything he had about Deathstroke the Terminator and was reading it over as he waited impatiently for the boy scout. This was getting worse and worse as he read over the file, being reminded of just how dangerous Deathstroke was. No doubt he was worse now, with several years to improve and more anger fueling him. He needed to find his son quickly. And _where _was Clark?

"What's going on Bruce?" Clark, finally flying into the cave, asked. "You actually asked for help, so it has to be serious." He continued with a grin, which quickly disappeared in the face of the glare that Bruce gave him. "I'm not in the mood, Kent." Bruce growled.

Clark frowned. "One would think that with Dick back, you'd be happier." He muttered. "But apparently not. Where is he, anyway?"

With no apparent reason, Bruce rounded on him furiously. "Are you going to help me, Kent, or just fill up my cave with mindless chatter?"

"Okay, okay!" Clark yelped, hands up in surrender. "But seriously, where is he? Ma and Pa wanted me to invite him 'round over the weekend."

"If I knew, I wouldn't have called you here." Bruce snarled. "Shut _up _so I can think."

Clark refused to stay silent. "What do you mean, if you knew where he was?" He asked, alarmed. "He ran away again?" Bruce growled and pulled up the security footage from special Bat-cameras situated in his office. "Watch this and stop asking idiotic questions. I'll be upstairs when you're done."

"You're not going to watch it?"

"Not- not right now." Bruce faltered, and covered it up with a glare. "Just watch it."

He turned and somehow managed to sweep imperiously away, radiating irritation, despite the fact that he was dressed in sweats and not his Batsuit. Clark blinked after him for a few moments before playing the video.

His eyes widened. "Oh, no." He muttered.

When Clark rejoined Bruce in the kitchen upstairs, he stayed silent. Bruce glanced up from the papers he was looking at. "Did you watch it?" Clark nodded. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly. "My shoulder's fine now." Bruce said, deliberately misinterpreting the question. "Not about that." Clark sighed. God, Bruce could be so stupid sometimes. "About Dick."

"Of course not." Bruce snapped. "I've had two weeks with my son after three years of him being missing, and now he was kidnapped right in front of me. Did you think I'd be fine after that?"

Clark was really worried now. Bruce had actually _admitted _that he wasn't ok; that meant he was really, _really _upset and worried. "We'll find him." Clark encouraged. Bruce looked at him for a long moment. "I didn't call you here for encouragement." He said quietly. "I need you to help me find him."

Clark nodded. "Of course I will. Do you know who the man is?"

Bruce nodded, holding up a sheaf of papers. "Deathstroke the Terminator."

Clark frowned. "Didn't Dick call him-"

"He's changed names." Bruce interrupted. "He was Deathstroke in Gotham; he's Slade in Jump. Whichever name, he's bad news. Former mercenary for hire, although his…conversation with Dick in my office leads me to suspect he's not in that business anymore. What I _do _know is that he is dangerous, and expressed an interest in Dick even when he was first starting out. He's highly trained as an assassin and a soldier. I suspected that he had enhanced healing and strength, but I could never prove it."

"Ok." Clark pulled a chair over and sat down. "So, why does he want Dick?"

"That's what we have to figure out."

"And how are we going to do that?" Clark grinned.

Bruce fixed him with a glare. "We're going to Jump. Dick put a set of emergency files on my computer and gave Raven the password in case something like this happened. I have a feeling that they'll tell us everything we need to know."

"Why did he leave it with Raven?" Clark wondered. "Wouldn't it have made more sense to leave it with someone closer- Barbara, or Alfred, or even Tim?"

Bruce paused. He honestly hadn't thought about it, but now that he was thinking about it, he thought he knew. "I think it was so I wouldn't leave them out of this." Bruce said slowly. "He knows that if I could, I would do this solo. I don't like having you help, let alone the Titans. Maybe he knows that they can give me more information since they have fought Slade before." He frowned; something was niggling at him. "The letters…" He breathed. "Dick told me to remember the letters- the ones at the Tower."

Clark's eyes widened. "You think that Dick left something with the letters?"

Bruce nodded. "It makes sense." He said, a tiny smile flickering on his face. "If he knew something like this would happen- and we know he did- he would leave instructions. He wrote something in those letters that will help us."

Clark smiled widely. Maybe this would be easier than they thought. After all, even though Dick wasn't there, he was still trying to help them.

Then a thought struck him. "What about the League?"

Bruce glanced at him, puzzled. "What about them?"

Clark elaborated. "What are we going to tell them?" Bruce gave him a very Bruce answer. "Nothing."

Clark shook his head. "This is serious Bruce." He reprimanded him. "They need to know. They can help look for him."

"If he's in Gotham, I can find him myself."

"_If." _Clark stressed. "He's not based in Gotham anymore, Bruce. He probably left the city already. As far as I could tell from the conversation in your office, he only came to Gotham for Dick. Now that he's got him…"

Bruce closed his eyes and massaged his forehead. "Fine. You tell them. I'm going to focus on _finding my son._"

Oh. That…. that wasn't so good. "Why me?" Clark asked nervously. The League's reaction to this would not be pretty.

"It's your idea."

Clark groaned and fervently hoped that the League wouldn't be in the mood to shoot the messenger… or electrocute, beat up, mentally assault, or attack said messenger with kryptonite that Bruce would no doubt provide.

* * *

Yeah, I can so picture Bats going up to GA or someone and passing him some kryptonite. "Beat up Clark with this, since I'm going to be busy _looking for my son_." "Wait, what?" :D

Anyway, one more League chapter, then Dick and Slade!

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	3. League Part 1c

OK, so this is the last of the first round of League. We're getting to Dick next chapter! Yay!

And yes, I am aware that this is short. It's just finishing up the first League storyline. Promise, longer chapters are coming up. Not really the next chapter, but the two after that are going to be loooooong.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

As the League gathered in the conference room, Superman frantically tried to come up with a way to tell them that Nightwing, possibly the most beloved person to ever walk the halls of the Watchtower, had been kidnapped by a former mercenary-assassin for undetermined reasons, and that they had nothing to go on at that point.

Yeah, there really was no way to make that sound good.

Soon, the League was seated around the U-shaped table, looking expectantly at Superman and chatting quietly. None of them had any idea why the heck they had been called to this meeting. As far as they knew, there were no national disasters or imminent alien invasion. So, what was going on?

"He looks terrified." Wonder Woman murmured to Black Canary. "And Batman isn't even here yet." Canary smirked. "It'll only get worse when he comes in here, growling to hurry it up so he can get back to Dick."

Up front, Superman winced. He heard what they said, apparently. The two women had to smother giggles.

Superman took a deep breath. "If I can have your attention, everyone." He sounded nervous. "I'm going to start now, so I would appreciate it if you were quiet."

"What about Bats?" Green Arrow called out. Superman grimaced. "He's not coming." Then, he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _he's going to watch me get killed from the monitors._ "Alright." Superman took a deep breath. "I called you here to tell you… I mean… um… jeez, how do I say this?"

"Are you alright, Superman?" Wonder Woman asked.

"No, I'm not." The man of steel sighed. "It's just that… many of you already know this, but we found Robin."

"He's been running around Gotham, Supes." Hal Jordan called out.

"Very funny. I meant the first one, Hal. He's Nightwing now. Yes, the Titans one." A murmur swept across the room as those who did not know expressed their surprise and relief.

"I thought Nightwing hated the League." Someone muttered. "It was probably just Bats." Someone else whispered back.

"That's great! So, what's the problem?" Captain Marvel asked.

"Batman was attacked at his workplace today." Superman ignored the comments. "He was in his civilian ID at the time, so he couldn't fight like he normally would. Nightwing… Nightwing came and rescued him."

"What went wrong?" Black Canary interrupted this time.

"Nightwing traded himself for Batman. He's been kidnapped… and we have no idea where he is."

The room exploded. Not literally- there was no alien invasion or villain present- but it was pretty chaotic anyway.

"What do you mean, kidnapped?"

"Who took him?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Quiet!" Superman shouted. "Look, Bats is already looking. We want you to keep a look out, tell us if you find anything suspicious. Batman and I are going to go talk to the Titans and see if they can help."

"But who took him?"

Superman pulled up a profile on the holo-computer. "His name's Slade- formerly Deathstroke the Terminator."

"Oh, no." Flash whispered. He knew who Deathstroke was- Bruce had called him in to watch Robin while he was looking for the criminal- and he knew that he was bad news.

For the next half hour or so, Superman explained what had happened and what they knew about Deathstroke. By the end of the meeting, everyone came to a unanimous decision to _get Nightwing back fast_. They were all going to scour their own cities, since they had no idea where Slade would set up base. Superman was going with Batman to Jump, and would keep them updated. When they found Slade, well…. lets just say it wouldn't be good. For Slade, that was.

"Alright." Superman said enthusiastically. They had something of a plan now, and he knew that they would have plenty of help. After all, this was just the League- he hadn't even told the sidekicks- sorry, partners- yet, and if the League was bad, Nightwing's friends would be even worse. Not to mention the Titans themselves, who no doubt would be more than eager to help rescue Nightwing.

To quote a certain bird, (yes, he had said it about a different villain, and he was referring to Batman's actions, but…) Slade was screwed.

* * *

Yeah, the last line isn't very good, but oh well.

Get ready for Nightwing and Slade!

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	4. Nightwing and Slade Part 1a

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... what's going on with Dick?

So this begins about the same time as Bruce is meeting with Clark, ish. Just so you know. And, as I say so much, yes, I know this is short-ish. Next chappy, though, is close to... 1450 words? Not including any other edits that I might add or the AN. So get ready for that one.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Well, except this 'verse. Sorta.

* * *

Blue eyes flickered open, hidden behind sunglasses. The young man sat up, groaning. "What hit me?" He muttered. He paused as the previous events came flooding back to him. "Oh. Right. Slade did."

He blinked a few times, then looked around the room. It was kind of plain- a desk, chair, and the bed. Oh, and a lamp. Not the most luxurious surroundings, but it suited him fine. He looked down at the bed. _Well, at least it's not orange_, he thought, half sarcastic and half sour.

He swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up, bracing himself against the inevitable dizzy moment as he did. Other than the headache, he seemed to be fine.

He changed into the sweats that had been left by the bed and slung the belt across his shoulder. Whether he trusted Slade or not, the instinct to have his belt with him at all times prevailed. His communicators were gone, of course, but everything else was intact. He hesitated for a moment, then reached into a hidden compartment and brought out a black communicator. Slade didn't know of his associations with the Bats, and so didn't bother looking for a Batcommunicator. He looked at it for a moment before switching off the tracking capabilities and returning it to his belt. He wouldn't destroy it, or give it to Slade, but he would make sure that it did not affect the playing field. His father would not be able to track him through it. He himself could, however, use it to keep up with the search and events at home.

Finished preparing, he padded over to the door and let himself out into the hallway. One of the things that he had noticed about Slade's hideouts was that they were all organized much the same way- second door on the right should be a bathroom, first on the left a training room, and the third door on the left should be the kitchen. That was the first door he tried.

What? He was hungry.

He pushed open the door and entered the room. Sure enough, it was the kitchen. It was also currently occupied. "Hey, Wintergreen." He greeted. Wintergreen turned and smiled at him. "Hello, Nightwing. Hungry?" "Famished." Nightwing grinned. "How long was I out?" "A few hours. Slade didn't hit you that hard." "Oh, I know. No concussion, which is good."

"How can you tell?" Both of them turned around to see Slade entering the kitchen. "By the way, it's good to know I didn't give you one. I didn't mean to hit you _too _hard."

"Why did you hit me at all?" Slade shrugged. "Well, I couldn't let you see where we are, could I?" Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Where are we?" "Metropolis." Slade answered. Nightwing threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "So why couldn't you let me see, if you were just going to tell me?!"

Slade ignored the question, a smirk the only hint of his amusement. "You didn't answer my question. How do you know you don't have a concussion?"

"I'm speaking english, for one thing." Nightwing rolled his eyes. "And I wasn't dizzy enough. I've had enough concussions to know how it feels."

Slade blinked. "What do you mean, you can speak english?" Nightwing sighed. "When I get a bad enough concussion, I can't speak english. Or most other languages, actually."

"Oh."

Nightwing nodded absentmindedly. "I'm not telling you which language I can speak, by the way. What happened after you knocked me out?"

"I took you and left. Wayne was helpless."

"That sounds really creepy if you think about it. Is he alright?"

"Wayne? He's fine." Slade obviously didn't care about the billionaire. Nightwing, however, cared more than he was letting on. It _was _his father, after all. Not that Slade knew that.

Slade pushed away from the counter that he was leaning against. "Ready for the tour?"

"Can I eat first?" Nightwing almost whined. "I just woke up."

Slade rolled his eyes. "Fine, we can eat first."

"Asterous." Nightwing smirked. Slade looked at him like he was insane. "What the hell does 'asterous' mean?"

"Opposite of disaster. You know, minus the prefix. It can be used as a noun, as in 'feeling the aster', or an adjective, as in 'asterous'."

By this point, both Slade and Wintergreen were looking at him like he belonged in a mental asylum. Nightwing shrugged. "I used to be obsessed with things like that, before I left and became Nightwing and got all bitter. I've started using them again though. Aster, whelmed, chalant, traught…"

Slade shook his head, obviously deciding not to get into that right then, and possibly planning to arrange some sort of brain scan to make sure Nightwing hadn't gone insane or been replaced by a clone. Because that was totally feasible. "'Before you became Nightwing and got all bitter'?"

"Mmmhhm." He obviously wasn't going to elaborate on that. "Drove everyone insane. I think Artemis wanted to punch me a few times before we converted her to the dark side." He continued cheerfully.

Slade and Wintergreen stared at him. It was almost like he was a different person. "What happened to you since you left?" Wintergreen asked with an awed sort of horror.

Nightwing's smirk faded into a small, genuine smile. "I reunited with my friends and family from before the Titans." He said quietly. "I became happy again.

* * *

Oh, poor baby. Just reunited and then you're violently ripped away. Who would do that to you?

... oh, right. Me. ;)

And if 'Wing seems like he's giving a bit too much away, he's really not. It's all superficial stuff, nothing really important. And he trusts Slade now. And he got hit on the head.

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	5. Nightwing and Slade Part 1b

Sorry for the wait, but it's going up now! I really have no excuse, it was written and everything, and I just didn't put it up. Sorry!

...I have nothing else to say. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Can we just take it as implied that we don't own anything? Do we really need this in every chapter?

* * *

After they ate, Slade showed Nightwing around the base. "This was actually one of my first bases." He explained. "I used this when I was still based in Gotham. The Titans won't know about it."

"The Titans won't know I've been kidnapped." Nightwing pointed out. "I'm not due to return for another few weeks. They don't know where I am-was. The only reason they'll think something wrong is because I won't answer my comm." _And because Batman will tell them. _

Slade smirked. "All the better then."

As Nightwing had noticed before, the base was constructed in pretty much the same way as all the others. Based on what Slade had told him, however, he was inclined to believe that this was the archetype rather than a copy. In addition, it contained one room that none of the others had. Nightwing had pushed open the door before Slade could protest and had been confronted with an unexpected site.

It was a child's room.

There were books and some toys strewn around the floor. A guitar leant against a corner. Green seemed to be the dominant color. There was an open door in the side wall, connecting the room to what looked like another child's room- albeit an older one. This one was blue and had more weapons than toys. Nightwing stared in silence for a moment. "This was Joey's room, wasn't it." He said quietly. "And the other one's Grant's."

Slade's gaze snapped towards him. "How did you…"

"The guitar. Joey plays it, but Grant was more about fighting."

Slade looked at him in shock. "I didn't tell you that."

"No. You didn't. I found another source… sources, actually."

Slade raised a clearly questioning eyebrow beneath his mask. "And those would be?"

Nightwing grinned. "One's classified. The other one… Joey says hi."

Slade was speechless. "J.. Joey?" Nightwing nodded. "He's on the Titans now. Jericho? He's an honorary, but he and I keep pretty regular contact. He wanted me to tell you that he wants to see you again, no matter what Addie said. You're still his dad."

Slade nodded slowly. "I think… I think that I would like that."

Nightwing smiled slightly. "I'll set it up after all of this. While we're on the subject of your sons, did you really first take interest in me because of my startling similarities to Grant?"

"Where did you _learn _all of this?!"

"Like I said, classified. I'll tell you eventually, somewhere in between you learning about my past as a hero and my secret ID. Not necessarily in that order. But seriously, the resemblance in the description struck me a mile away; I can only imagine how bad it was for you."

Slade shook his head slowly. "Yes, it did factor into the decision. I honestly didn't think anyone had information like that about me anymore."

"Oh, your file was _huge._ It took me almost an hour to read through."

After this round of bomb-dropping, sort-of-mentor and _I-am-NOT-his-apprentice _continued on the tour. They ended back up in the kitchen, where Wintergreen was washing the dishes. Nightwing immediately moved to help, grabbing a dishtowel to dry the dishes as Wintergreen washed. He shrugged at Slade's look. "Habit. If I don't do the dishes in the tower, the pile of dirty dishes eats someone. I used to do the dishes with my mom all the time."

"You're giving out a lot more information about yourself this time." Wintergreen remarked. "Last time, you hardly told us anything, even though you clearly were starting to trust us."

"I don't have so much to lose, I guess. The Titans learned so many of my secrets lately I got out of the habit of keeping so many secrets about my past. I've been with people who know practically everything about me. I'm not running away from my past anymore."

Wintergreen and Slade stared at him like he was insane. Unbidden, the conversation from the rooftop a few weeks ago rose to the forefront of Slade's mind.

"Does this have anything to do with those heroes?"

"It has everything to do with them." Sadness flickered over his face for a second. "I only got a few weeks with them." He said softly. "But I can't leave them behind again."

"You're being mysterious and cryptic again." Wintergreen teased. Nightwing snorted. "Please. I used to live with the king of mysterious and cryptic. I was trained to be mysterious and cryptic. It was inevitable that it would resurface."

Obviously, this 'kidnapping' would be much more interesting than the last ones. Nightwing was starting to open up to them, and apparently knew much more about Slade than he was letting on.

* * *

Nightwing ducked under Slade's punch and retaliated with a kick of his own. The two had been sparring for nearly an hour now, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that they were evenly matched, and that Nightwing was bringing some new moves to the fight. Some of his moves were downright acrobatic in nature, which Slade thought was almost impossible. Nightwing wasn't an acrobat; his style of fighting had never betrayed any sort of acrobatic prowess. Now, thought, Nightwing was flipping around and dodging his attacks with effortless grace. It was almost an entirely different style of fighting.

The two took a break, Nightwing immediately going for a water bottle, while Slade opted to sit down first. "Impressive." He remarked. "You've improved. It seemed like you'd developed a new style of fighting."

"Oh, I did." Nightwing smirked, sitting next to him. "That's the one you're used to."

Slade sighed. "Fine, I'll bite. What on earth are you talking about?"

Nightwing rolled his eyes, sitting back. "When I became Nightwing, I had to change my fighting style, or else anyone close to me would recognize it. So, I started fighting differently, the style I used fighting you. What I just did was more like my old fighting style. More acrobatics, focused more on dodging attacks than countering them, waiting for just the right moment to strike. It's more instinctive for me. I'm trying to combine the two now."

Slade nodded, digesting this new information. It raised so many questions; why didn't he want to be recognized, why had he already developed a distinctive fighting style before he became Nightwing, why he hid his acrobatics. It was this last point he decided to focus on- or at least, something similar.

"You know some acrobatics?"

Nightwing's smirk grew. "I know more than some. Show me a piece of acrobatic equipment, I guarantee that I can use it."

"You're awfully confident." Slade remarked. Nightwing's confidence didn't waver. "I know."

Slade stood up, stretching. "I believe I'm going to contest your claim." He drawled. "Follow me."

Nightwing followed, curious. Where was Slade bringing him?

Slade stopped at a door that he hadn't shown Nightwing during the tour. "I haven't opened this door in years." Slade mused. "I don't use it. I made it for Grant, but…" The silent _he died before he could really use it _was clear as day.

He pushed open the door. Nightwing stepped past him, gazing around the room, wide eyed. There was a set of parallel bars, some rings, and some mats in the corner for floor work. Even better, the roof was criss-crossed by narrow beams- perfect for flipping and running over. The only real shortcoming it had was that there was no trapeze.

Nightwing's face split into a wide grin. "Asterous." He whispered. He turned towards Slade. "Well, it's more than I could have hoped." He told him. "I thought I was doomed to no acrobatics while I was here- and major fidgets. It doesn't compare to my gym, but it'll do."

Slade raised an eyebrow. "I've been everywhere in that tower of yours. There was no acrobatic equipment."

"Secret gym underneath the Tower." Nightwing said offhandedly, wandering further into the room. "It's not on the blueprints, the Titans didn't even know it was there until that day when the League came. I'm good at keeping secrets when I need to."

"I can tell that." Slade really could. With every word that came out of the young man's mouth, he was learning of a different side of Nightwing, one that he hadn't seen up 'till now. What had happened, to change him like this?

* * *

Yeah, I just love acrobatic Nightwing/Robin- for me, that's one of Dick's major points. He needed some acrobatic stuff.

One more Nightwing chapter after this.

REVIEW!


	6. Nightwing and Slade Part 1c

OK, so this is the last Nightwing chapter, and then we have a few overlap chapters, which is pretty much whatever's going on at the Tower and Nightwing and Slade commenting on it _in italics. _

I love when I have nothing to say up here :)

Enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: Blaaaaaaàáâäaæãåaāaaaaaaahhh hh

* * *

Nightwing was fidgeting.

There was honestly no other word to describe it. They had returned to sparring after they had visited the newly dubbed 'Nightwing acrobatics room'. Slade had assured Nightwing that he could return to the room later, but they were in the middle of something. Nightwing had shrugged and gone along with it. Slade would learn better than to tempt him with acrobatic equipment.

Anyway, after sparring, Slade had immediately started on a computer programing lesson- no doubt a precursor to robot-programing lessons. Nightwing was silently laughing the entire time. Oh, if only Slade knew how good he really was with computers. Ordinarily, Nightwing left the hacking and computer stuff to Cyborg. That wasn't to say, however, that he didn't still hack in his free time. The League, the Pentagon, Mount Justice, the Batcave… nothing was safe from his hacking. He had also developed an amusing habit of hacking Zatanna's laptop and leaving little messages- amusing or sincere. He and Zatanaa had shared a few laughs over them after everyone had reunited.

But Slade didn't know that, and so Nightwing had born almost an hour of 'lessons' before he had finally broken down in laughter. The expression on Slade's face when he had had just served to prolong the laughing fit. Eventually, though, Nightwing managed to calm down.

"Care to share the joke?" Slade had drawled, fighting a smile himself. It was nice to hear him laugh so freely, so joyfully. The previous times Nightwing had been his…guest he hadn't been nearly as carefree.

Nightwing had struggled internally for a moment before finally giving in. "I'm an accomplished hacker Slade." He admitted. "The stuff you're trying to teach me? I learned it when I was 10."

Slade had raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Oh, really. How come you've never displayed this skill before?"

"I let Cyborg take care of it all." He shrugged. Obviously, it wasn't such a big deal to him. "I was known as a hacker… before… and I knew that if I made a reputation as a hacker again, I would be easier to track down."

Slade frowned. This was yet another reference to the mysterious 'before', and the desire to stay as far as possible from it. Nightwing continued on quickly, before Slade could pursue this line of questioning. He quickly completed the task that Slade had been trying to teach him how to do- in less time than Slade could have done it. He then smirked at Slade, like _look at me, I'm suddenly a better hacker than you._

Slade was suddenly very interested in Nightwing's hidden hacking skills.

Over the next twenty minutes, Nightwing demonstrated his hacking prowess. He easily accomplished anything Slade challenged him with.

"At this rate, you should be hacking the Pentagon soon." Slade joked. Nightwing surprised him with his response. "Been there, done that." Nightwing scoffed. "Try hacking the League. That actually poses something of a challenge."

"You've hacked the Pentagon?"

"So many times, they just caved and gave me my own all-access code."

Needless to say, this resulted in an interesting conversation.

It was around then that Nightwing began to feel the fidgets creeping up on him. Honestly, it had been too much to hope that they wouldn't. After all, Slade had just shown him all of this acrobatic equipment, and then not let him actually go on it. It had been a while since he had flown, and he needed to get into the air. _Soon_.

But no, he couldn't yet, because somehow enough time had passed so that it was time for dinner. He managed to get through most of it, deflecting pointed questions and shocking the others by actually making jokes. He managed to find ways to slip in whelmed and traught during the conversations, and Slade and Wintergreen's faces had been priceless.

Finally, though, the fidgets started slipping through. They escalated quickly, until Wintergreen felt it was necessary to point them out.

"Are you ok?" He asked, concerned. "You're acting like a toddler who needs to go to the bathroom."

Nightwing cracked a grin at that. "Nah, I'm fine. Blame Slade."

"Why me?" Slade demanded.

"You're the one who tempted me with acrobatic equipment." Nightwing deadpanned. "I did mention the fidgets, didn't I?"

"You're fidgeting… because of seeing some equipment?"

"No." The implied _you idiot _was clear, and seemed suspiciously like a certain Bat's attitude. "I'm fidgeting because I need to _use _the equipment. I haven't flown in two days, and you tempted me with new equipment."

"Alright." Slade rose from the table. "Lets go see, shall we?"

Nightwing's face lit up. "Finally!" He leapt up and bounded out of the room ahead of Slade.

"Well, he certainly is eager." Wintergreen remarked. Slade followed after Nightwing. By the time he reached the room, Nightwing was already working on the parallel bars. He stayed there for a while, and then flipped onto the rings, and from there disappeared into the rafters. Slade watched the entire performance in awe. He had no idea of the skill Nightwing had with acrobatics. It was like he had been born to fly, everything seemed so effortless with him.

"I have a question." He called out.

"Shoot." Nightwing's voice drifted from the rafters. "Before you ask, though, last time I knew there was nothing for me to work with, so it wasn't so bad. And the old hideout had a lot of ropes and pipes lying around, so I made do. I can survive without the acrobatics, it's just that if I know there's an available set of equipment…"

Well. "You predicted my question."

"I've been asked that a lot. Cl… I mean, some people were worried that it would prevent me from functioning well if I got captured for a long time or something. "

"Ah. Who were you going to say?"

There was a long silence. "My… my uncle." Nightwing answered finally. "That's on the _NOT going to be discussed with Slade under any circumstances _list."

Slade raised an eyebrow. He was curious about this list, and if there were any others. The _to be discussed with Slade in some circumstances _list or something.

* * *

The next morning, as Slade, Wintegreen, and Nightwing were eating breakfast, some sort of alarm went off. Wintergreen stood up and left the room, obviously going to check whatever that was. Slade didn't look concerned though, so Nightwing concluded that it wasn't so bad.

"What's that about?" Nightwing asked curiously. Slade sighed. "It goes off whenever anything that might be deemed significant happens in Jump. When you and your Titans do something particularly stupid, usually. Any idea what might be going on now?" There was an odd look on Nightwing's face. "Oh, I have an idea." He muttered. Enough time must have gone past for Bruce to get off his butt and go to Jump.

Sure enough, when Wintergreen reentered the room, he looked a little shellshocked. He cleared his throat. "It appears that Batman and Superman have arrived at Titan's Tower… in order to ask for help locating Nightwing."

Slade turned to look at Nightwing. He had a peculiar smirk on his face. "Why," Slade said slowly, "Are Batman and Superman looking for you?"

Nightwing's smirk morphed into his _I know something but I'm not telling _smile.

"Now, there's an interesting story. Look at it this way; at least Supes isn't here investigating?"

His smile faltered at Slade's look.

"Yeah, I'm not telling you the reason. Remember the aforementioned list?"

Slade sighed. "All right, don't tell. We can watch, anyway. You're not there to run that disrupting program."

"You know about that? Right, of course you do. Why am I getting deja vu here?"

* * *

:D

I love Slade and Nightwing's banter. So much fun to write.

REVIEW!


	7. Titans Tower 1

Another really long chapter. I'm on a roll here!

This is an example of a crossover chapter. No, not like TTxYJ, I mean that we have both Nightwing and the League in here. Italics= Nightwing and Slade's comments, everything else is Bats. Nightwing and Slade is more of a running commentary than anything.

Enjoy the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I own nooooooooothing.

* * *

Batman strode into the Titan's Tower like he owned it (well, if you looked at it the right way, he did. Where do you think Nightwing got the money from?). He had hacked the door, too impatient to bother with common courtesy like letting the Titans know they had a visitor. Superman shook his head and didn't bother trying to stop him. He had learned a long time ago that trying to stop Batman when he was in this sort of mood was a lost cause.

The Titans looked up in surprise when the two heroes entered the room. Cyborg looked at them with wide eyes. "Dude, my systems didn't even register your arrival! How'd you do that?"

"Despite what you may think, your systems are ridiculously easy to hack." Batman growled. "I doubt that Nightwing could have come up with security like that, so I assume it's your doing. Fix it."

"What crawled up his butt and died?" Raven muttered, giving up on trying to meditate. She floated closer to the group to join the conversation. She smiled politely at Superman. "What's going on? Is Nightwing with you?"

Beast Boy grinned toothily. "Or is he busy with Zatanna?" He quickly wilted under the Batglare.

* * *

_"Who's Zatanna?" Slade questioned. Nightwing grinned. "My significant other. Hush."_

* * *

"That's the problem, actually." Superman said quietly, not meeting the Titans' eyes.

Batman growled, obviously frustrated with the slow pace. "I need to know everything about the villain known as Slade, and his relationship with Nightwing. _Now._"

Starfire looked confused. "Please, Friend Nightwing knows more than we do, why do you not ask him?"

"Because they can't, Star." Raven said slowly. "They wouldn't have come here otherwise. Slade got him again, didn't he." It wasn't so much of a question as a statement. Superman nodded. Starfire gasped and looked ready to burst into tears. "No! We must rescue him from that bad man immediately!"

"But first we need to know what happened." Beast Boy said seriously.

"Superman will explain." Batman was running out of patience. "In the meantime, will one of you give me the information I need to know so I can work on _finding them?_" Superman sighed. "Calm down, Bats. Sorry you guys." He shot an apologetic look towards the Titans. "It's just that he's worried. I mean, we haven't seen him for years, and then he's kidnapped only weeks after we find out that he's-" The hero was cut off by a band of black that wrapped around his mouth.

"First thing about Slade is that he has the entire Tower bugged." Raven informed him. "Watch what you say."

* * *

_Slade sighed. "Oh, I was hoping they wouldn't warn him until he let something slip." He mourned. "After they found out that you're what, Nightwing?"_

_"Not teeeeelling." Nighwing sang under his breath. He seemed amused by this whole thing. _

_"Frankly, I'm surprised that the Titans haven't soiled themselves yet." Wintergreen commented. "Batman seems particularly annoyed and angry and, well, terrifying at the moment." _

_Nightwing shrugged. He could see through the apparent anger to the worry and despair consuming his father, and felt guilty for a moment. _

* * *

"If you know about the bugs, why don't you do anything about it?" Batman ground out, glaring. Raven glared back at him. "For your information, we tried." She said acidly. "We removed every single camera or microphone in the tower, and the next day we went out to fight Mad Mod. By the time we'd gotten back, they had been replaced."

"We tried again, and then Slade actually came out and beat us up this time before replacing them." Beast Boy continued. "He likes to keep an eye on Nightwing through them. We decided it was a lost cause. He gets touchy if he can't check up on 'Wing."

Batman narrowed his eyes. Finally, something he could work with. "Why would he want to keep an eye on Nightwing?"

* * *

_"Other than his stalkerish tendencies?"_

_"Shut up."_

_"What? It's true."_

* * *

The Titans were silent for a moment. Then, they started doing the cliche making-faces-at-each-other-and-trying-to-make-anyone-but-themselves-have-to-deliver-the-bad-news routine, which only increased the tension in the room. Finally, Raven sighed. "Come with me." She said abruptly, and turned to leave the room. Batman and Superman followed her, curious to see where she was going. She stopped at a door near the room that Batman remembered was Nightwings. She pushed open the door and waited for them to go in before entering herself.

"We call this the Slade room." She said quietly. "Technically, it's the evidence room, but so much piled up about Slade that we gave him a separate room. Nightwing used to come in here all the time; he had an unhealthy obsession with stopping Slade. Thankfully, he's stopped coming in here for the most part."

"Are there bugs in here too?" Superman asked. Raven nodded. "Everywhere but the bedrooms and bathrooms, and those usually have microphones, but not cameras."

"I didn't think he would care so much about your privacy."

* * *

_"I don't."_

_"Seriously though, you have to admit that cameras in the bathrooms are just overboard and the ones in the bedroom were just plain creepy."_

_"Apparently, since you went to so much trouble to make sure they wouldn't function in those rooms."_

* * *

"He doesn't. Nightwing did something." Raven answered.

Batman began moving around the room, inspecting the newspaper articles tacked to the wall, the files in the cabinet, the black and orange mask displayed on the wall. He moved aside a sheet blocking off a corner of the room and found an orange and black uniform. Ice ran through his veins.

"What is this?"

"It's a uniform." Superman came up next to him. "But it looks to small to be Slade's. It's not the right design, either."

"No." Raven took a breath. "It was Nightwing's."

Batman's gaze snapped towards her. _"What?!"_

"The fight between Nightwing and Slade… it's personal. The Titans aren't so important, other than as pawns. Nightwing was obsessed with stopping Slade _because_ it was so personal. They were archenemies. Everything that Slade does or has done centers around Nightwing."

"Raven." She met Batman's gaze and saw the desperation in it. "What does Slade want with him?"

Raven's gaze dropped. "He wants an apprentice and heir." She said quietly, hearing Superman's gasp of dismay. "Someone to inherit his legacy, his empire. And he wants Nightwing to be that heir."

"No." Superman whispered.

Batman stood frozen. He had always been afraid of this, ever since the time that Deathstroke had displayed an interest in Robin. He knew that his son had so much potential- and that he would be just as great as a villain than a hero. He had realized that if he had not taken the boy in, it was very likely that he would have become a gang lord, maybe even a super villain. The lines blurred where Dick was concerned.

"We need to find them, and soon." He said. Superman looked at him. "Batman… do you think Slade could actually convince him to join him?" "Yes." Batman said honestly. "He's always had the potential to be great, on either side of the law. He lives in the gray, even more so than me, even if it doesn't seem like it. He was born into it. And their relationship seems odd."

* * *

_"What does that mean?" Slade narrowed his eyes. He looked over at Nightwing, who had a stunned look on his face. "He really thinks that?" He whispered. Then he shook his head and looked at Slade. "What did you say?" _

_"That whole thing about the gray."_

_Nightwing was quiet, looking down with a frown. "Lets just say I wasn't originally intended to become a vigilante." He said. "I escaped that fate by chance, before I even knew about it. I didn't think Batman knew about it either, I found out about it after I moved to Jump."_

_He looked back at the screen, ending the conversation._

* * *

Batman was silent for a moment, thought racing, trying to plan. "Raven. Do you have a way of tracking your villains?"

"Yes, but it won't help with Slade."

"I'm not thinking of Slade. Can you find Red-X?"

Raven's face betrayed her shock. "What?"

"Red-X. Find him." With that, Batman began sifting through the information in front of him, determined to learn all he could from what he had in front of him before pursuing other avenues.

"Oh, and Raven? When I'm done here, I'll need the password to those files Nightwing set up on the computer."

She paused at the doorway. "The password's the species of his first pet. That's all he told me."

* * *

_"That's not such a great password, Nightwing. I could probably guess it within 5 tries."_

_"Try."_

_"Dog, cat, bird, hamster, fish."_

_"Nope. Too bad. You're never going to get it."_

_"Lizard?"_

_"No. My first pet was a bit... unconventional."_

_"A bat?"_

_"Hee hee. No. Just give up. "_

_"Turtle? Moving on... what files?"_

_"No. Did you really think that I wouldn't plan for this? I left info and instructions to help them."_

_"That's cheating." _

_"No it's not. Did we ever say that I couldn't so that?"_

_"...Fine. What does Red-X have to do with anything?"_

_"He's really important actually. You'll see." _

* * *

And fin. Whew!

Yes, I did just reference the Court of Owls. Unfortunately, that's about all you'll be hearing about them, I think.

Wha'd'ya think about the commentary? Was it too confusing?

REVIEW!


	8. Titans Tower 2

So, a lot of you are really excited about X's entrance. So, it's with great apprehension that I tell you that he will not actually be appearing in the chapter. *cringe* sorry. Next chapter, promise. He is sorta there- you'll see. It's not like he has nothing to do with it.

Anyway, I got this one done quickly so I decided to post it. Hope you enjoy!

EDIT: Ok, so roy23 pointed out that I wrote Robin instead of Nightwing during the notes part. *Facepalm* I don't even know how that happened. So, it's fixed now. Sorry for any confusion.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Man I hate these things.

* * *

Raven slowly walked back into the main room where all of the Titans were gathered. The other Titans looked up questioningly at Raven, clearly wondering what was really going on here. Raven shrugged. "He wants us to track down Red-X."

"Red-X? Why does he want that whack job?" Cyborg burst out. "Shouldn't he be more focused on finding Nightwing?"

"Just run the program, Cy." Raven sighed. "And pull up his profile; maybe there's a clue there."

Cyborg obeyed, grumbling. Within a few minutes, the finder program he'd designed was working on finding Red-X and he was pulling up X's profile page. He scrolled through it silently for a few moments, noting some changes that Nightwing had obviously made. He hadn't looked at this file in ages, but Nightwing, apparently, was on it quite often. "Huh. Nightwing obviously messes with this one a lot, almost as much as with Slade's."

"Really?" Beast Boy asked. "I didn't think X was that important."

"They have almost as complicated of a relationship as Slade and Nightwing do." Raven murmured, half to herself. "And we don't know the half of it."

* * *

_Slade looked over at Nightwing. "Is it even possible to have a more complicated relationship than ours?" He asked, part sincere and part sarcastic. Nightwing laughed. "Nah, it's really not that complicated, once you know the background. They don't." _

_"Would you care to share?" Slade asked, not really expecting a real answer. Sure enough, Nightwing just gave him a 'no, of course not you idiot' look and turned back to the screen, snickering quietly. "Oh, they're going to blow a fuse when they see the notes."_

* * *

Cyborg continued scrolling down the file. Suddenly, he paused. "Hey, look at this." He called, The other Titans gathered around to read the section he was looking at.

**Powers: X does not actually have any powers; his powers come from his suit, powered by xinthonium, which he stole from Nightwing. If possible, please retrieve the suit and return it to Nightwing. He wants it back. **

_**Psh, no you don't. If you did, you wouldn't have let me steal it in the first place, Bird Boy. -X**_

**X- how did you even get on this? -N**

_**Cyborg's not very good with security. You should put up some of your firewalls. Not that it would stop me, I know all your passwords. But they might distract Slade. -X**_

**I can change the passwords, you know. Although you'd probably guess them. But you're right, if I really didn't want you to have the suit, it'd be in the vault by now. -N**

_**The 'whelmingly penetrable' one?**_

**Dude, NO USING MY WORDS TO CRITICIZE ME. I thought you thought they were stupid, anyway. **

_**Oh, they are. SO glad you stopped using them.**_

**Shut up. **

The banter continued for a few more lines.

"What IS this?" Beast Boy exclaimed. "The files are not a chatroom!"

"I think it's more of a question of why Nightwing kept allowing Red-X to hack the database." Raven said dryly.

* * *

_Slade nodded. "It's not something I would normally expect from you, Nightwing."_

_"It's different with X." Nightwing brushed off. "He just does that to bug me, he doesn't actually go into any other files. It's not like I could stop him, anyway. Like he wrote, he knows all my pass codes and could probably guess the ones he doesn't."_

_"You're close?" Slade looked over to see Nightwing's face soften. "Yeah." He said softly. "We always have been- well, except for a period in the middle. That was a complicated time, though."_

_Slade frowned. He hadn't been aware of the fact that Nightwing even knew X out of costume. A thought struck him- did X know who Nightwing was out of costume?_

* * *

"Is there anything else?" Raven asked, scanning the rest of what she could see on the screen. "Friend Raven, there is something addressed to the Man of Bats here." Starfire noticed, pointing. Raven's eyes narrowed at the link labeled 'To Batman'. "Click it, Cy." Cyborg nodded and obeyed. Another window popped up.

**Dear Batman,**

**If you're seeing this, it means you're prying. It's a given that you will pry. Please stay away from Red-X. He does not want to see you. I do not want you screwing up, again. Because you will. You did once already, which was a disaster, heavy on the dis. And it was not very whelming. I rather like knowing where he is, and being able to make sure he is alive and safe and traught, so don't mess it up. Unless you really need him for some reason, like Slade kidnapped me or something, LEAVE HIM ALONE. And no, he does not want to come home for Christmas, even for A's cookies. I already asked. Don't press the issue. **

**Sincerely, **

**Nightwing**

_**Ok, so I hacked my file again and found this, and when I read it over I thought it seemed a bit mild. So:**_

_**STAY THE !&*%# OUT OF MY LIFE! YOU SCREWED IT UP ONCE, AND I DO NOT WANT AN &^%$%*# LIKE YOU ^*(&%$#%ING WITH MY LIFE! I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THAT #%#^ CITY, UNLESS IT IS TO KILL THAT #% $! CLOWN! AND, SINCE YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T WANT THAT, STOP BUGGING ME! AND STOP SENDING GOLDIE TO DO YOUR DIRTY WORK; IF YOU WANT ME TO COME TO CHRISTMAS SO BAD, ASK ME YOURSELF! I'm not going to come, by the way. I happen to like it here, there's NO CROWBARS. SO LEAVE ME THE !#$% ALONE ALREADY!**_

_**Sincerely, **_

_**X**_

_**P.S. Please tell A that yes, I do have enough to eat and a roof over my head. Now, STOP MOTHER HENNING ME. I get enough of that from Goldie. **_

_**P.P.S. GOLDIE, I THOUGHT YOU STOPPED BUTCHERING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!**_

_**-Jay**_

**Well, that was… I'm not sure if it was overly harsh, or if the PS makes up for it. It did use an overabundance of curses, but that's just you. Whatever, it gets the point across. Stay away, Bats. **

**And Jay, I hope you realize I added those just for you. Love ya! :D**

**-Wing**

The Titans gaped. "What… does that even mean?" Cyborg said, flabbergasted. "Christmas?" Raven just blinked slowly at the screen. "Maybe we should move on."

* * *

_Nightwing was on the floor, laughing. "Oh, god, their faces!" He wheezed. "oh, my god. I have got to get a picture of that from the records and send one to X."_

_Slade raised an eyebrow at his antics. "What has gotten into you?" He asked in a slightly superior tone. Nightwing was acting like a child, after all, so he felt entitled to some superiority. Nightwing managed to stop having a fit for a moment to answer. "Nothing. Grew down a little, I guess. Started using my weird words again. Haven't had a laugh like that in a while. You do realize that I'm only seventeen, right?" _

_"Seventeen? Really? I thought you were older. Disregarding that, why on earth would X 'come home' for Christmas, and why are you telling Batman about it?"_

_"Wouldn't you like to know?" Nightwing said with a smug smirk. _

* * *

Something beeped, and a new window popped up on the screen. "Star, tell Batman we found X." Raven said. "And show him the note, please." Star nodded and flew off.

In a few moments, Batman would smile for the first time since Nightwing was kidnapped. A few moments after that, he would actually break the _I am the goddamn Batman, I don't smile_ facade completely and actually let out a chuckle. How was it that, even when he wasn't there, Nightwing always knew exactly how to make the Dark Night a little less dark, and bring some light to his life?

That was why they needed to get Nightwing back. They couldn't let that light go out, because once it did, they would never get it back, and the world would be that much darker.

* * *

So, there was some XxNightwing interaction, even if it was in the past. I couldn't resist adding all that. Sorry.

X will appear in person next chapter, swear!

If you have any questions or suggestions, please, ask. I love questions and suggestions. Don't be shy!

REVIEW!


	9. Titans Tower 3: Enter Red-X

So, I've got some issues to address. Dang it.:

1) Tim and Jason will be in this story. Duh. Babs will be coming later too. Damian may or may not be brought to Slade's compound if I have Ra's and Talia al Ghul go to hire Slade for something. Maybe. Steph and Cass, however, will not be included. That is definite. Sorry.

2) The Team will be coming. Promise. Chapter... 11? Maybe 12.

3) Some Titans villains may become involved, purely so I can bring in Gizmo and have Nightwing hack his equipment. Just for kicks *snicker*

4) Slade has no reason to suspect that Nightwing's Robin. It's, like, not even in his top 100 theories. So if it seems like he's taking a long time to connect the dots or missing some obvious clues, that's why. Plus, he met Robin for all of 2 minutes 7 or 8 years before this. He hardly even remembers the kid.

5) Tim is holed up in Gotham. He's not really grounded, per se, but Batsy has got him going through all the security footage and trying to figure out where Slade was hiding out while in Gotham. Plus, Batman's kind of hoping that Dick actually is still in Gotham, partly because it's Gotham so he can go all badass Dark Night on home turf on him and partly so he can rub it in Clark's face.

6) Slade has no interest in Tim. Slade will never have any interest in Tim. He took an interest in the first Robin, and it's pretty common knowledge that Tim is not him. Plus, can any of you guys see Tim as a merc assassin? Not really. Dick though? Totally could be.

That's about it. Sorry for any confusion in the last chapter with the Nightwing/Robin typo. If you didn't notice it, awesome. If you did, it's fixed now.

Feel free to ask me any questions you guys may have. I'm totally open to suggestions too. I'll start a whole PM conversation discussing some ideas. Don't be shy!

And I've delayed you long enough. Those of you who read this, anyway. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

* * *

Superman, Batman, and the Titans gathered on the couch to determine their next plan of action. While the Titans sprawled comfortably on the couch, Batman and Superman sat rigidly, although Superman did seem a bit more relaxed than Batman. Both, obviously, were on edge.

"So." Cyborg started. "X is by the warehouses, probably getting more Xinthonium. We can go and try to bring him in, but he's slippery."

"By which he means we've never caught him." Raven added dryly. Cyborg shot her a dirty look but didn't contradict her. Frankly, Batman didn't have much confidence in their ability to capture him. After all, he _was _a Bat, even if he had gone rogue. Luckily, he had another plan.

"First, we're going to try this." Batman said, producing an X shaped communicator. "Sending out a team to capture him is Plan B, in case he's not cooperative."

"Surely, with what's going on…" Superman started, and then remembered who they were talking about. "Never mind."

"Where did you get that?" Beast Boy questioned. Batman turned towards him. "Nightwing left it behind. Hopefully, X will answer."

* * *

_"Why do you have one of X's communicators? Did he drop it?"_

_"No, he gave it to me. Like I said, we're close. If he hadn't given it to me, I would have just continued breaking into his apartment to chat. He got tired of replacing the locks." He smiled sheepishly at Slade's look. "What? It's not like I stole anything."_

_"I was just wondering why you know where he lives, and why he still has the suit if you do."_

_"Oh, I let him keep it. He's happy here, and this way I can make sure he doesn't get into any real trouble. Bugging us doesn't count." _

_"So you approve?"_

_"I send him confiscated Xinthonium so he doesn't have to steal it. What do you think?"_

* * *

Batman flipped open the communicator and pushed a button. "X." He said, in his deep, growly, _I am the night _voice.

The communicator stayed silent.

"X, answer me." Batman growled.

Silence.

* * *

_"Yeah, he doesn't want to talk to you." Nightwing muttered. "Surprising, right?"_

* * *

Batman sighed. "Jason, pick up this communicator now or I'm going to send Superman after you, and then turn you over to A and make you come to Gotham for Thanksgiving _and _Christmas." Across the room, Superman muttered something about not being a messenger boy, and he didn't want to get murdered by Jason, thankyouverymuch. Batman gave him a dirty look and then ignored him.

Silence. Then,

"That's blackmail." X's voice came through. "Did you steal Goldie's comm? 'Cause he's not going to be happy about that."

"Unfortunately, he's been kidnapped, so I doubt he cares." Batman bit out.

X swore. "Who? Joker? Dent?"

* * *

_"Right, he still thinks I'm in Gotham." Nightwing realized. "Honestly, getting kidnapped by you is better than anyone else, I guess." He told Slade. "Especially that clown." _

_Slade nodded. "He knows Two-Face is Dent? Normally, only Gothamites know that." _

_"He IS a Gothamite."_

* * *

"No. Not a Gotham villain." Batman corrected.

"The Rogues then? Or just a prank by YJ?"

* * *

_"Why would the Rogues kidnap you?"_

_"They've done it before. Kid Flash asked them to once when I was avoiding him, and then they just kept doing it. They sort of pseudo adopted us. And I haven't seen them in years…"_

_"And YJ?"_

_"The team of heroes you lured to Jump. Young Justice."_

* * *

"If you would be quiet for a moment, Jason, I could tell you." Batman growled. "It was Slade."

"Oh." Batman was surprised by Jason's tone; all the worry had gone out of it, and he sounded slightly bored. "That's all?"

"What do you mean, that's all?" Superman demanded. "Nightwing's been kidnapped by his archenemy, and you don't care at all?"

"Terrific." X grumbled. "The Blundering Boyscout actually is there. Look, Boyscout, they might have been archenemies but it's evolved into some twisted mentor/student thing. Never use the word apprentice. Slade won't hurt him, so chill. That being said, if you don't want Goldie pulling a... well, pulling a me, you should probably find him."

"We need to talk." Batman intervened quickly before Superman could reply. "Come to the Tower, now. That's an order."

"I don't answer to you anymore, Batsy. Your 'orders' don't mean anything." Despite his words, he appeared in the Tower a moment later. "But, Goldie made me promise to answer your questions if this happened. So, ask."

"Wait, you can just teleport into the Tower anytime?" Cyborg blurted. Red-X blinked at him. "Of course. I do it all the time."

"What do you know about Slade?" Batman interrupted, irritated.

X then blinked at _him_. "Did you even read the files? Or the letter?"

"Not yet." Batman admitted. "Seriously?" X sighed. "Look, those will tell you everything you need to know. Goldie wrote them just in case this ever happened; the rules of the game will be in there."

"This isn't a game." Batman glared.

* * *

_"Yes, it is. We came up with rules and everything."_

_"Shhhh!"_

* * *

"Yes, actually, it is." X smirked. "You really don't know anything, do you?" He looked around the room, seeing confusion on every face. He snorted. "Idiots. Birdie made deals with Slade; they agreed on the 'rules', which are listed in those files, but I'll tell you now too. You can't win unless you play by those rules. You've got to play the game."

"What do you mean by 'game'?" Raven asked. X thought for a moment.

"Think of it like manhunt, sort of." He said finally. "Slade and Dickhead are hiding. You guys are seeking. There's rules: you can't go out of the boundaries; you have to tag the others, not just find them; they can move bases a certain number of times, whatever. Slade's playing keep-away- he doesn't care if you get close, because then he'll just move to a different spot. You've got to corner him. And you need to find them before he convinces Goldie to side with him and help him hide. He knows all your strategies, so if he does cave, it's essentially game over; you'll never find them. But one of the rules is that Goldie has to stay with Slade until you do tag him, and can't have any contact with the seekers. He follows Slade, but doesn't really help either side. He's the prize, almost, but he's also a major player. _The _player, the one who can tip the scales. Get it?"

Batman nodded slowly. "But why would he agree to go along with Slade?"

"To keep Slade from hurting the seekers, of course. There's plenty of rocks he can throw and pits he can dig and ways to trip them up, plus he's playing dirty and brought some weapons and is tracking the seekers. So long as Goldie's with him, he won't use them. He'll leave the seekers alone to seek."

* * *

_"That's a pretty good analogy, actually." Slade commented. _

_"Thanks." Nightwing grinned. "It took me an hour to come up with. He's totally paraphrasing my speech."_

_"Hmm." Slade mused. "Does X ever call you by your name? He seems to have a lot of nicknames for you, Goldie being the most popular."_

_"It's rare that we use our actual names." Nightwing informed him. "We've come up with too many nicknames for that. Although Goldie is meant to be slightly insulting, but he's gotten over that. Mostly." _

* * *

"What does Slade get in return?" Superman wondered.

"Wingnut stays with him until the Titans- or you guys, now- find them." X said quietly. "And not just like, he's here, but storming the base and making it impossible for them to escape, or beating Slade to a pulp or something. He doesn't try to escape at all. He goes along with whatever 'lessons' Slade teaches him. He acts, for all intents and purposes, as his protege. Maybe tells him some info or something. In return, Slade leaves the Titans out of it. No probes or anything- seriously, you don't know about the probe thing? Do your research, Bats, you need to know all the history- and he doesn't do anything permanent while fighting them. Broken bones are the absolute worst he'll do. He won't deliberately impede the search. And he won't force Goldie to actually kill someone. He'll learn the theory, yes, and how to do everything, but Slade won't actually make him put it into practice unless Goldie himself does it of his own free will. Slade's an assassin, you know- soon, Goldie will be too."

"He already is." Batman said quietly.

* * *

_Nightwing winced. "Ouch." He whispered. "That stings a bit. __And it's not strictly true. I never went through most of the actual training...__"_

* * *

"Alright." Batman continued. "Lets go retrieve those letters and then go through the files. We'll play by the rules; but we'll use them to our own advantage and get Nightwing back.

* * *

Ok, seems like I _wasn't _done with the Court of Owls references. But then again, no one seemed to mind the first time, so what the hey?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. And get ready for some looooong chapters. I love it :)

REVIEW!


	10. Titans Tower 4: Death of Peanut Gallery

OK, looooong chapter. Like, upwards of 2000 words without the notes. And I don't even really like this chapter. It's kinda boring. Oh well.

Umm... right, corrections. It has been brought to my attention that Xinthonium is apparently not correct. Oops. Buuuut I'm too lazy to go correct it, so you'll all just have to ignore it. Sorry :P

And I'm actually expending the effort to make titles now! Except they won't fit in the title box :(

Disclaimer: ...

* * *

Titans Tower 4: Death of the Peanut Gallery (aka Slade and Nightwing)

Batman had gone down and retrieved the entire case full of letters. He quickly opened the case, not even hesitating to think about what the passcode might be. Superman smirked slightly; they really did know everything about each other. He was sure that Dick would be able to open any case of Batman's as well without thinking. It was just more proof of how close they were.

Once the case was open, Batman reached in and pulled out a pile tied with blue ribbon first. Superman recognized it as the pile that Nightwing had said was his. He looked at Batman questioningly as he pulled out the piles tied with black ribbon and closed the case. "Why are you giving me my letters?" Batman gave him a _you are an idiot_ glare. "He knows that out of everyone in the League, I would have brought you." He said simply. "Chances are he left something for you as well." Superman nodded; it made sense. He and Batman did seem to end up on the same missions, after all. And Dick knew that Clark would insist on coming if it had to do with his 'nephew's' safety.

He untied the ribbon and flipped through the letters. There were labels on the outside, telling which event they described; formation of Titans, apprentice thing (later, Dick had gone back and added 'first' before the word apprentice), Terra, Trigon, just because, Speedy, stop being such a douche towards Superboy already, etc. Finally, he saw an envelope that looked promising- When Slade kidnaps me again. He glanced over at Batman, who had a lot more letters to go through, and then gently opened the envelope. He scanned it quickly.

**Dear Clark, **

**So, it's been about three days since you guys came to the Tower. I figured I should probably write this, to give you some instructions for when Slade kidnaps me again. Yes, I'm saying 'when' instead of 'if'; he will get me again, sometime, somehow. I can't avoid it forever, so I might as well plan accordingly. I'm assuming that Batman brought you, so I'm not going to put the real instructions in here. Read the letter I left for him to find out about that. This letter is to give you some other directions, ones that don't apply to Batman… or are for Batman. And don't worry about me, I'll be fine. **

**First of all, please look after him. Losing me again will probably hurt him a lot. He's going to need you more than ever. You are his only true friend, you know; it's why he asked you to come with him for this. He trusts you more than anyone, except maybe me or Alfred. Keep him sane. **

**Second, make sure he lets the others help. The Titans have fought Slade before, and while they don't understand him anything like I do, they do know some of his tricks. They can help him look, take a bit of the load off of his shoulders. Let Babs and Tim help too, if you have to, but keep them away from Slade. He takes more of an interest in non-metas than metas. Keep Artemis away from him too. **

**Which brings me to third- don't let him keep YJ out of the loop. You guys haven't even told them yet, have you? Don't make them find out through the grapevine. Tell them, and let them help. It'll make them feel better. **

**Fifth, if Slade's threatening someone to get me to go with him, help them first. Don't even try to find me until they're safe. He probably won't involve anyone else, but there's no harm in making sure. **

**The first one is by far the most important. Bats will drive himself to the ground looking for me, you know he will. Don't let him get too crazy. Make sure he eats and sleep. Don't let him ignore Timmy. And for god's sake, keep him from killing Jay when he says that he won't really help, other than for info. **

**Thanks Clark. I know I can count on you. **

Superman looked up, surreptitiously wiping a tear from his eye. Batman looked at him. "Did you find something?" Supes nodded. "He left me a letter for when he was kidnapped. There isn't anything about Slade or how to get him back, just some other instructions."

"Saying what?"

Superman coughed and avoided his eyes. "Well, to take care of you, for one. He said that I'm your only true friend and you're going to need me more than ever now." He didn't even have to look up to feel the Batglare increasing a thousand fold. What did surprise him was that the Batglare soon softened. "He's right." Batman said, so quietly that Clark could hardly hear him.

* * *

_"Did he just admit it?" Nightwing asked, wide-eyed. "Oh my god, he did. It's worse than I thought. For the love of all that's holy, Supes, do NOT mess up."_

_Slade was looking at him through narrowed eyes. "How would you know about their relationship?" He asked suspiciously. "It seems like you know them both very well… better than you should. After all, you do have a reputation of hating them."_

_"I don't hate them!" Nightwing shouted, exasperated. "I was just avoiding one of them! No one said anything about hating!" He caught Slade's look and sighed. "Fine. I may or may not have been very close to much of the Justice League before I left and became Nightwing. That's why they all glomped me that day, remember?"_

* * *

Superman decided to change the subject very quickly. "Did you find anything?" Batman nodded and looked down at his own letter.

**Dear Batsy, **

**So, if you're reading this, I've either been kidnapped by Slade or you couldn't resist and snuck into the Tower to read your letters. I'm going to say it's about 50/50, which one it is. Anyway, if you're reading this because you're supposed to- because Slade kidnapped me- then there's something that I'd like to say before you continue reading the instructions. **

**Get traught or get dead. **

**Yes, I was kidnapped. Deal with it. Don't go on a rampage. Slade's very, very smart and you'll need to be thinking clearly to fight him. So calm down. He won't hurt me, he won't mistreat me in any way, unless you count being forced to learn how to use a gun. But seriously, chill. Don't go around biting off people's heads for trying to help or for caring about you. Don't push Tim away. Get it? Good. **

**Back to the instructions. In no particular order, other than the order they popped into my head:**

**First of all, find whoever Slade's threatening, if he is threatening anyone. I don't think he will at this point, but it's possible. So if he is, don't you dare think about rescuing me until you find them. **

**Second, talk to Jason. He's become my confidant in Jump, and he knows everything. He'll explain things and point you in the right direction, but he may or may not actually help search. It's up to him; don't pressure him into anything. **

**Third, read those files I left you on the Batcomp. There's summaries of everything, and a profile, and lots of little things that might be important. Nothing on Slade's background though. You know where to look for that, Alfie's probably told you by now. **

**Fourth, don't bother looking in Jump. We won't be there. **

**Fifth, in the files I left you, there's more instructions. Isn't that great? Those are for setting up the disrupting program for the spy cameras. You've just got to type in a few codes, no biggie. The trouble was making it, but I did that for you already. Lucky you. **

**Sixth, don't worry about me. I'm serious. I'll be fine. Don't act like I've been taken by the Joker or something. Go slow and careful. **

**Seventh, try to get along with my team. I know you don't really approve of all of them, per se, but they can help. At the very least, they can be a distraction. But don't discount them, they've actually fought Slade before so they can be helpful. **

**Eight, please talk to YJ. Keep KF and Zee from killing themselves looking for me. And Spe-Red Arrow. **

**Some of the other letters in these piles were written during or after major Slade-related events, so they might provide some insight as well. Keep in mind that these were written in the moment, possibly before I knew everything about an event, so there might be some confusion or misleading info. Use the files for definite facts. Any letter labeled with 'Apprentice', or 'Slade', or the later 'Terra's- namely the ones about her betrayal and 'death'-, or some of the 'Trigon' ones will have some stuff. **

**So, I guess that's it. Good luck Tati. **

**-Nightwing**

Batman looked up and took a deep breath. He stared into space for a moment, thinking, before shaking his head and getting up suddenly. He stalked towards the computer. Superman looked after him in concern. "Bats?" He asked uncertainly. "You ok? Want to tell us what's in the letter?" "It doesn't matter." Batman said brusquely. "It was intended for me, not you. He didn't say much about Slade." Superman nodded, still looking concerned. "But are you ok?"

Batman paused. "I'm fine." He said. "Lets see what's in these files."

* * *

_"What did you write in there, to make him react like that?" Slade asked curiously. Nightwing looked mystified. "I'm not sure." He responded. "I tried to keep it lighthearted and didn't really say anything that bad… he's probably just tired and stressed." _

* * *

"Should we call the others?" Superman asked. Batman growled, obviously not appreciating the interruptions. "After, I want to get this disrupting program working first. I don't like that he could be watching us."

"Nightwing could be watching too." Superman pointed out. Batman just glared at him and then kept working. "Regardless." He ground out. "I am going to stop him as soon as possible."

* * *

_"Why on earth would it bother him so much?" Slade said innocently. Nightwing rolled his eyes. "You know, most normal people don't appreciate being spied on. The Titans are used to it by now, but he isn't. Plus he's paranoid to the, like, thousandth degree."_

_"I know. I was kidding." _

_Nightwing's jaw dropped and looked terrified. "Oh my god, Batman admitted he needed Supes, and Slade made a joke! The world is ending!"_

_"Shut up."_

* * *

Batman pulled up the files. The empty password bar stared them in the face.

"Riiiight." Cyborg realized. "We don't have the password."

"Species of Nightwing's first pet." Raven deadpanned. Cyborg blinked. "Wing had a pet?"

"Has." Superman corrected. "She's still alive. And she isn't really his pet… not in the conventional sense of the word. They sort of adopted each other. She doesn't live with him, anyway. It would be kind of hard."

"I've always wondered what kind of pet Wing would have." Beast Boy said excitedly. "A dog, or a cat, or a bird or something."

"His second pet was a dog that he rescued, Catwoman would probably kidnap any cat he got as a pet unless she herself gave it to him, and he was forbidden from getting a bird. Something about a bad pun." Batman rattled off. Beast Boy gaped at him. "Uh… right."

They watched as he typed in the words 'African elephant'. They could hardly believe it when it worked. "Is that a joke?" Raven muttered. Beast Boy thought for a moment. "Well, it makes sense that he'd have an unusual pet?" He said uncertainly. Batman ignored the dumbstruck expressions and muttering and started going through the files, pulling up the one to run the interference program.

Superman grinned sheepishly and shrugged at all the looks. "He had an interesting childhood?"

* * *

_"I'll say." Nightwing muttered, rolling his eyes. Slade just looked at him. "An elephant?"_

_"Like he said, interesting childhood. I don't think I've ever actually been 'normal'. It'd be too boring."_

_They watched as the picture on the screen in front of them degenerated into static. _

_"Well, that's that then." Slade sighed. "Time to go back to training, Nightwing."_

_Nightwing groaned good naturedly. The two walked out of the room, chatting quietly. _

_"So, what happens if there was some vital information in there that you missed?" Nightwing asked jokingly. Slade smirked back at him. "I'll find it when I got through the recordings later."_

_Nightwing stared at him for a moment and laughed._

* * *

Yeah... I don't like this chapter. Oh well. It was necessary. Next chapter will be shorter, swear. Much shorter. It will also feature the team- mostly Wally- and a cameo from Tim. See you then!

YJ references are awesome :) Especially the ones that actually occurred on the show.

Review! Please *puppy dog eyes that totally fail next to Dick's*


	11. The Team Gets A Clue

OK, so I go from the longest chapter ever to the one of the shortest. It's not too short though, don't worry. Whatever, that's just how this one turned out. There's no dialogue, so maybe it'll seem longer? I kinda got tired of all the talking, and I wanted to bring in the team, so...

This chapter is complete literary trash, but it's actually one of my favorites so far. It's just not written very well.

DISCLAIMER: Blah blah blah, does anyone even look at this?

* * *

The Team FINALLY Opens Their Eyes and Gets a Clue:

Wally West was somewhat annoyed. His best friend, his little brother, had been in Gotham for a little more than a week now and he hadn't seen him since the thing in Jump. Dick hadn't returned his calls, hadn't been visiting anyone in the League, and he hadn't shown up at the team reunion they had had. Everyone had been annoyed, but Dick refused to answer any of their calls. Batman had gone AWOL and no one in the League was answering their questions. So, Wally had been nominated to find out what was going on for the important fact that he was the only one who knew where to find him. None of the others knew his ID, after all.

The first thing he'd done was call Wayne Manor. Alfred had answered, and when asked had politely replied that neither Master Richard nor Master Bruce were available at the moment. He'd deflected a few more questions and then hung up. Wally had stared at the phone for a moment and was overwhelmed with a feeling that something was wrong here. _Very _wrong. Alfred had been using his overly polite, _I really don't want to speak to you and have much more important things to do but I'm a proper English gentleman so I'll deal for the moment _voice. He never used that voice with Wally. The humoring voice, or the one that exuded impatience, but never that cold, polite tone, but with an undertone of worry. Something was _really _wrong. And it had to do with Dick. Who else could evoke that kind of a response from the Wayne household? Of course it had something to do with Dick. And he was going to find out what.

He was now a bit more than annoyed.

So he poked around. He asked Flash, who had just stammered out something about Bats, and how they were odd, and how it was better to leave them be. He'd looked extremely uncomfortable and zoomed off as soon as he could. Aunt Iris hadn't helped either, but she had seemed more confused than anything. Not like Barry, who obviously knew _something _but wouldn't share. More like the _I have no clue what you're talking about but if my husband is hiding something about my pseudo nephew I will murder him violently _confused.

The Team met up again and compared notes. Everyone had asked their mentors and snooped a little. No one else had any luck. It was quickly concluded that the Leaguers knew something, but weren't telling. Batman was impossible to find or contact. And Nightwing was still MIA. Wait...

That was when everyone paused and stared at each other. Of course. Nightwing was _missing_. The League didn't know where he was either, and Bats was going nuts trying to find him. It was the only logical explanation.

That brought up another question. _Who would be stupid enough to kidnap Nightwing just after he'd been reuniting with his family, _meaning that the League would do anything, short of…. well, short of nothing, they'd do _anything _to get him back.

The answer? Someone who didn't know about his connections. Which pointed to a Titans villain. Or someone after Dick Grayson, but only Wally thought of that. Anyway, Dick hadn't really been in Gotham long enough for someone to stage something, not to mention that his only public appearance had been that party of Bruce's, and it had been crawling with heroes. No one would have been able to do anything then even if they had tried. And no one tried.

So, Titans villain it was. But one who knew Nightwing was in Gotham?

Putting the issue of which idiot did it aside, they had no real proof of any of this, so they couldn't just go to Jump, demanding an explanation. So, Wally had recruited Roy to help gain proof. Their method?

They kidnapped Tim. Duh. Who else but a Bat would know about what the Bats were up to?

Well, yes, Superman was a possibility. But he wasn't there, was he? He was off with Batman, doing who knows what who knows where because who knows who had maybe kidnapped Nightwing.

So, they ambushed Tim outside of school one day, before he was picked up by Alfred. The boy had been annoyed, sure, but he understood where they were coming from. He would want to know too. He just would have hacked the Batcomputer instead of kidnapping someone.

It only took a little bit of begging (Wally, because Roy would _never_), pleading (ditto), threatening (finally, something up Roy's alley) and bribing (both of them) to get him to crack. Once he did, though, it was like hitting the mother load. He told them about how Dick had been kidnapped saving Bruce, how it had been a Titans villain by the name of Slade (who said the Bats were the only detectives with the League?), how Batman was determined to keep this a 'family matter', Bats only (plus Superman, but he was kind of unofficially a Bat. Sorta.), and how Batman and Superman had informed the League before going to Jump to see what they could find there. Wally and Roy stuck a pair of sunglasses on the kid and dragged him to where the Team was waiting and had him tell them everything too. They unanimously decided to go to Jump and confront Batman about this. Tim begged to come. They let him.

Screw leaving the Bats alone. Who cared about the wrath they would no doubt incur. Privacy? What privacy? This was their little brother, and they sure as hell weren't going to sit around after he'd gotten himself kidnapped. 'Family matter' be damned. They _were _family, whatever Batman said.

Blood is thicker than water, and god knows they'd seen enough of the stuff as a team, together. The bonds formed by saving each others butts a million times over were stronger than either.

So, they went to Jump. They knocked politely on the door of the Tower, and then told Batman that they'd have Superboy break down the door if he didn't let them in, using a friendly tone of course. They didn't want to sound threatening after all. It's not like they were furious with him for keeping this from them. Nope, not even a little bit. And Batman wasn't the least bit intimidated when they marched into the main room and nailed him with seven angry sibling glares, one of which had been trained by Batman, plus one angry girlfriend glare. Superman didn't think that their glares were almost worse than the Daddy!Bat glare. Of course not.

Privately, Superman winced. So much for **don't let them find out through the grapevine. **Oops.

* * *

Yeah, so Team is pissed. Who wouldn't be?

Um... don't really have anything else to say. Oh well.

REVIEW!


	12. The Team Gets A Clue cont

Chapter 12!

In which the Titans are peeing their pants because of the wrath of the team, I fail at having them yell at Batman, and X is up to something. Enjoy!

And apparently I'm going to be inconsistent naming chapters and only come up with names for some of them. Oh well.

DISCLAIMER: Zzzzz...

* * *

The Titans were suddenly faced with the terrifying realization of just what Young Justice meant to the heroes involved in it.

It meant family. _True _family- the kind that would face down the goddamn Batman because they were worried about their youngest member. It was completely and totally terrifying. Nightwing would be proud.

Privately, Raven thought that it was a good thing that Batman had gotten the disrupting program up and running. This wasn't going to be pretty. If harnessed, the anger radiating off of the Team + Robin could be more powerful than a hydrogen bomb. The only time she'd felt anything similar… she paused. The only time she'd felt anything similar was when a villain threatened one of the Titans. Nightwing radiated the same sort of self-ritous anger when his friends were threatened as the Team was now. When their family was threatened.

Huh. Maybe it was genetic.

She abandoned her musings to watch Batman get chewed out by a bunch of young adults + Robin.

Artemis started. "What happened to Nightwing?" She asked in a deadly voice.

"Why were we not informed?" Kaldur continued.

"And _where is he?_" Kid Flash completed. They all glared at Batman, clearly unwilling to take any BS from him. They wanted to know, and they wanted to know _now. _

Batman sighed, obviously acknowledging a lost cause, then turned and pulled up some files on the computer. "His name is Slade." He stated. "Apparently, he and Nightwing have had a long term rivalry going on. In fact, Nightwing described him as his archenemy in some of the earlier files. However, that appears to have changed. They are still technically enemies, but they get along better. It is similar to you and the Rogues, Kid Flash. He routinely tries to kidnap Nightwing using various methods- usually some elaborate scheme involving blackmail. He's succeeded three times now."

"Why does he keep going after Nightwing?" Megan asked.

"Apparently, he wants an heir." Batman gritted his teeth. "He's chosen Nightwing to be his apprentice, whether he wants to or not. Unfortunately, Nightwing has become more… open to his proposals."

"Wait, you mean Nightwing could become a villain?" Superboy was obviously having some doubts. Kid Flash nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's never gonna happen Bats." Batman just looked at them grimly and gestured to one of the lines on the screen.

**Like I wrote earlier, Slade wants me to be his apprentice… to be a villain. I know I always said that I'd never become a villain but… I don't know. I still don't want to be a villain, but I won't lie, there have been a few times- more than a few actually- that I've actually thought about joining him. I can see myself being his 'heir' just as easily as I can see myself returning to Gotham. That's what scares me most about this- last time, after we started actually getting along and he changed- **_**I **_**changed, too- and I was tempted. I'm afraid that if I'm stuck with him again I'll succumb. It's a very real possibility Bats, whatever you choose to think. **

"Nightwing chose to use these files as a diary of a sort." Batman said quietly. "There's a section that contains his personal feelings and reflections on events, things I doubt he ever intended to be read, but he included them in here. This one is from two weeks before he was kidnapped, a few days after we found him again. He's changed in the three years he's been away. He's not the same person anymore. He's grown up."

"But…" Robin protested. "He wouldn't. He's on our side! He took the oath, Batman!"

"So did I." Red-X spoke up. "Didn't stop me, did it, Replacement?"

The Team turned to look at him, as they hadn't noticed him when they first entered the room. Artemis blinked at him. "Jason?" She asked. Everyone turned to look at her and she blushed slightly. "What?" She demanded. "'Wing had him come to me after everything that happened- thought we could bond over having less than perfect fathers and the Shadows. We've kept in touch."

Batman stared at her, wondering if _everyone _but him had known where at least one of his missing sons were the entire time. "Jason has a point." He said. "Nightwing has his weaknesses, and he as good as told us that we should be prepared for that possibility."

"But… he wouldn't leave us again, would he?" Miss Martian whispered. Batman wouldn't meet her eyes. "I don't know." He turned back to the screen. "I'll send you all a shortened version of this; you can help search. With the League, the Titans, the Team and Red-X, we should be able to have people searching everywhere-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." X interrupted, holding his hands up in protest. "Who said I was helping?"

Time seemed to slow as everyone stared at him incredulously. "Of course you are." Robin said. "It's _Dick_."

"That doesn't mean I'm going to help." X pointed out. "I mean, yeah, he's cared for me over the years, but he as good as told me that he doesn't expect me to help you guys. I'm a villain, for one thing- if I get on Slade's bad side, I'm toast. Plus, if I had to work with you guys for longer than a few minutes I'll kill someone. And I'm not particularly worried about Dickhead. He'll be fine either way."

Batman glared at him. "You _will _help us, Jason."

Jason resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. Wasn't Batman listening? He stormed over and grabbed Batman's letter, pointing out a line.

**He'll explain things and point you in the right direction, but he may or may not actually help search. It's up to him; don't pressure him into anything. **

"See? Goldie knew that I probably wouldn't want to help and was fine with it. I'll give you info, like I just did, but I won't actively help. Deal with it." Batman gritted his teeth. He just wanted to find his son, and he was running into obstacles everywhere. "Fine." He ground out. "Maybe you can help by telling us about this second 'apprenticeship'. Nightwing doesn't say much about it."

"There's not much to say." X shrugged. "It wasn't as eventful as the first one. 'Wing didn't even leave the compound where Slade was holding him. It was training, mostly, but it gave them an opportunity to bond. They got closer. That's the funny thing about training together, going over scenarios where you might be relying on the other for your life. Fighting together tends to lead to a better understanding of the other. Like when a grumpy old man taught a boy full of laughter and ended up closer to the boy than anyone else." He rolled his eyes. "Wing's words, not mine."

It was odd how fighting together could create such close bonds. Batman and Nightwing had fought together so much so they could communicate without speaking. The Team had fought together for years and were closer to each other than practically anyone else. Slade and Nightwing had fought together down in Trigon's hell; while that had, literally, resulted in Nightwing learning something new about Slade (i.e. he was an reanimated skeleton thing) they had also gained some sort of understanding. While they were together during kidnapping #2 it has just been strengthened.

"Anything else?" X asked acidly. "Or can I leave now?"

"That's all for now." Batman dismissed him. "Thank god." X muttered. "You have my comm if you need me. Don't need me." He pressed a button on his belt and disappeared. The Team and the Titans merged and began discussing plans and strategies. Robin split off of the group and walked over to Batman.

"Did you really expect him to help?" He asked quietly. Batman shook his head. "He knows more than any of us, and he doesn't seem to be that worried. If he thought it was really urgent, he would have helped. But I don't blame him for not wanting to help. That would mean that he would have to spend more time with me."

Robin nodded, and then pulled up his holo-computer on his glove, something he had stolen from Dick. "Send me some of the files, I'll help you go through them. You don't have to everything by yourself." Batman glanced down at him and seemed to soften before nodding and sending him some files. He thought back to Dick's letter.

**Don't go around biting off people's heads for trying to help or for caring about you. Don't push Tim away.**

_I won't Dick. _Batman silently promised. _I won't let you down._

* * *

Halfway across the city, Red-X materialized on top of an old, mostly destroyed warehouse. He waved cheekily at where he knew one of the cameras was. Dick had shown him where they all were. He settled down to wait.

In Metropolis, Slade was alerted to the fact that someone was at the old hideout. It couldn't be Nightwing, of course, but it was safe to say that he didn't expect it to be Red-X. He called Nightwing over.

"Oh, yeah." Nightwing grinned. "I told him about that. He probably wants to talk to you."

"He's helping the heroes." Slade pointed out. Nightwing corrected him. "He told the heroes what I asked him to tell. Beyond that, he's not really on anyone's side. He'll get to see me either way, whether I'm a hero or a villain."

"Hmm." Slade was still suspicious, but he decided that he might as well see what the young man wanted. "Wintergreen, I'm going out." He stated. "Get the jet ready please. Nightwing, you're staying here."

"Big surprise." Nightwing muttered.

* * *

Timmy, big fail on the secret ID thing. Fortunately, everyone's too worried to notice. And Jaybird is doing...something.

This is the last of the pre-written chapters that I had, so now I'm writing the chapters as I post them, which may or may not mean a shorter or longer wait. It depends on how much time I have.

REVIEW!


	13. X sasses, and the Titans get a visitor

...I really have nothing to say up here. Um. Enjoy?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own- oh look, a squirrel!

* * *

Red-X stood on the building, whistling a tune. He had started off whistling some popular song that he liked, but had almost unconsciously switched to the tune of a Romani song Dick had taught him. When he realized that, he rolled his eyes. _God, I'm such a sap._

Anyway, he had been up there for a while now, and was beginning to doubt that Slade was going to come, which sucked. He wanted to talk to Dick, to make sure he was alright. And maybe threaten Slade a little.

What? He might not act like it, but he really did care about his brother. After all, Dick was the only one who had ever really cared for him through everything. He had never given up on him, even during the whole Red Hood period. He owed it too Dick to stick by him. Plus, if he was being completely honest, Dick was his role model. He looked up to him.

"Red-X"

Jason whipped around so quickly he got whiplash. Well, at least Slade had turned up. "You're almost as bad as the Bat." He muttered. "Slade. What took you so long?" Slade raised an eyebrow. "I am not at the beck and call of _children_." He drawled. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to Nightwing." Jason said firmly. Slade was obviously not amused. "In case you didn't realize," he drawled, "I believe I kidnapped him. Why on earth would I bring you to my hideout and allow you to talk with him, especially since you're working with those _heroes_?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jason put his hands up in a 'stop' motion. "I am not working with them. Wingnut asked me to tell than about the background and rules and whatnot, so I did. Past that, though, I'm staying as far away as possible." Slade was still doubtful, but his comm rang. He raised an eyebrow and answered it, and made it loud enough for X to hear, seeing that it was Nightwing.

_"Slade, he's telling the truth. I practically had to force him to even talk to them in the first place."_ Nightwing's voice came through. "_Seriously, he's tried to kill a bunch of them. He's not going to work with them unless he's gone insane, which is a very real possibility."_

"Hey!" Jason exclaimed. "It is not! Those were extenuating circumstances!"

_"Uh huh. Whatever helps you sleep at night. If it makes you feel better, technically we should all be locked up for running around a city in spandex."_

_"_I don't wear spandex." Jason retorted.

_"You did._"

"That wasn't my fault- it was yours, actually."

_"Details, details. Continue your conversation." _He hung up. Jason gaped at the communicator. "Aaaanyway." He glanced back over at Slade. "You're going to take me to him."

"I am, am I?" Slawe was obviously not convinced. Not to mention the fact that X was acting just a little bit rude, which wasn't really helping his case. X, however, wasn't worried.

"Yes, or I go right to the heroes and actually help them. Goldie told me everything, Slade- it won't be hard to find you again. Maybe Adeline will know where some of your hideouts are?" He smirked.

Slade narrowed his eyes, mind working furiously. Addie _would _know of their current hideout. He could move bases, of course, but he had business in Jump, meetings had been scheduled. He couldn't move yet. Suddenly, his mind went off on a tangent; why did Red-X care so much? When he asked X, his smirk faded to a faraway look. "Not that it's any of your business," the former bat said quietly, "but Nightwing has done more for me than anyone. I want to make sure he's ok, and happy. I'm not here to pass any secret info or anything; I just want to make sure he's ok."

Slade's communicator crackled to life again.

_"Aw! Jay! I didn't know you cared!"_

Red-X glared at the communicator, startled. "What the hell Goldie! Are you pulling a Dad right now, spying on us? How the hell did you hear that, anyway?!"

_"The cameras have audio, idiot. And yes, I am acting a bit like him, but I'm fairly sure that he wouldn't be spying on you from a top-secret super villain hangout…"_

"Dad?" Slade asked. "Would that be your father, Nightwing, or Red-X's father?"

"Technically, both our fathers are dead." X pointed out. Nightwing agreed, and added, _"It's more of a figure of speech at this point, but it's referring to our sort of father-y figure."_

"What do you mean, father-y?" X asked, amused. "You practically worshipped him."

_"Which is why I moved to Jump and cut all contact with him?" _

"Touche."

Slade sighed. "Fine. Come with me." Nightwing obviously trusted him, and at the very least he could, hopefully, find out more about both X and Nightwing by watching them interact. And it would be nice for Nightwing to interact with someone more his age. And besides, Red-X was a villain, so perhaps he could help convince Nightwing to join him for real. He turned on his heel and led X to the car. He didn't notice X's huge grin, but he did hear the faintest echo of a cackle issuing from the communicator.

* * *

"Find something interesting?" Tim came up behind Bruce, who was still going through all of the files. He brought some food with him, which he was fairly sure Bruce wouldn't touch, and some coffee, which he probably would. Bruce glanced at him, seemingly on the edge of dismissing him immediately, before he hesitated and shook his head.

"Nightwing believed that Slade had a base in nearly every city." He said, pulling up a map. "Excluding Gotham and Jump, he could be practically anywhere. He'll stay in America though."

Tim sighed. "Not much to go on."

"No." Which was incredibly frustrating. Slade was trained, highly skilled, and incredibly careful. There were no tracks to follow, no leads. Superman had returned to the Watchtower to do some research there, and many heroes were keeping an eye out in their cities. Selina was keeping an ear out for villain gossip. Young Justice was still plotting with the Titans, comparing notes on Nightwing and what he would do to contact them or leave a hint. If he contacted or left a hint. Bruce wasn't sure he would.

He bit back another frustrated sigh. There was _nothing _for him to do.

Just then, an alert went off. There were two people outside of the door, one of whom the computer recognized, and the other was a stranger. He glanced at the screen and turned towards the Titans. "Who's Jericho?"

Beast Boy blinked at him. "He's a hero- helped us with the brotherhood. Blond hair, green eyes, mute. 'Wing was going to put him on the new Titans team. Why?"

"Because he's here." Batman turned and swept towards the door, something in the description striking a chord. "Along with someone else."

The Titans exchanged looks and followed him to the door, pausing when they saw Jericho and a strange woman stride in. Jericho smiled at the Titans, but the woman stopped in front of them and crossed her arms.

"My name is Adeline Kane." She said seriously. "I understand you're having some trouble with Slade. I can help."

* * *

I have no clue where Addie came from, she just kinda barged in here demading to have a chance to kick the crap out of Slade. Take a number, Addie.

And see how unintentionally smart Slade is being? He's in Metropolis, but Supes is too busy running around with/for Bats and coordinating everything to actually look in his own city, and Superboy's with the Team in Jump. Addie knows about that hideout, of course, but she'll probably figure there's too many memories, too many reminders of Grant for him to make that a permanent base again, especially since Slade has gone there, like, once since Grant died.

Anyway, hoped you liked!

REVIEW!


	14. X sasses some more and Wing trolls

__Sorry this took so long, but I was swamped with schoolwork. Plus I only got, like, two reviews. I get inspiration from reviews; answering/reading them gives me more ideas, which were lacking with this chapter. But I got it done, so enjoy!

Oh, and from here on out, the set-up'll probably end up like this one; mostly Slade/Nightwing with some Titans at the end, at least until we get to the next big, big event.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing :( How sad.

* * *

Slade stared at the young man sitting across from him in the jet. He had to admit, he was a bit curious about Red-X. He didn't really know anything about him, apart from the fact that he was close to Nightwing, apparently, and that he was smart enough to steal from Nightwing. He was beginning to think, though, that Nightwing had let him. After all, if they were so close, Nightwing could have easily stolen the suit back, but he hadn't, which told Slade that he trusted Red-X, even if he was a criminal. Which led him to believe that they had know each other before X had become a hero, possibly even before Nightwing became Nightwing.

On the other side of the jet, X was sizing Slade up. He knew that Slade was powerful and skilled- he had to be, to defeat Dick. He knew that Slade had caused Dick a heck of a lot of pain in the past, arguably more than anyone except possibly the Joker. Then again, Dick wasn't the one that the Joker had killed. And Bruce had hurt Dick pretty bad, what with all the arguments and everything… Dick had gone through a lot. Sometimes, Jason thought that one of the prerequisites for joining the Batclan was being completely screwed up.

But back to Slade.

Somehow, despite all of the pain that Slade had caused him, Dick had somehow managed to find a way to trust him. In Jason's expert opinion, Dick's trusting nature would cause him to get killed one day (Jason would immediately dump his body in the Lazarus Pit, of course, and hunt down the idiot who killed him, if Bruce didn't get to him first). And, ironically, Dick was starting to make Slade a better person instead of Slade turning him bad. Jason had a grudging respect for Slade. Anyone who could get to Dick was a worthy opponent.

"Are we going to spend this trip in silence?" Slade raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Or are you going to sulk the rest of the time?"

"I wasn't sulking." Jason defended. "I was evaluating and making conclusions based on limited information."

"And that is so much better." Slade rolled his eye. "What were you evaluating?"

"You." Jason eyed him. "I was just feeling sorry for you."

Slade stared at him. He felt _sorry _for him? As far as Slade could tell, he was winning. He had his apprentice, the heroes were busy chasing their own tails, and the one hero that had a decent chance of finding them was in Jump instead of his own city. He was feeling pretty satisfied. X obviously sensed his skepticism and smirked.

"You have _no _idea what you've brought down on your head by kidnapping him. I mean, you couldn't have picked a worse time to do this if you'd tried."

"You know, this isn't the first time someone's told me something like that." Slade mused. "I must admit, I'm curious as to _why _everyone thinks this, and quite _who _is going to be doing this."

Red-X smirked at him. "If Nightwing hasn't told you, I'm not gonna either. I'll give you a hint- it's got to do with his past, so until you figure that out, you're going to have to suck it up."

"You know, you don't seem very scared of me." Slade remarked, leaning back, keeping his eye on the other villain. "Most villains in Jump seem at least a little bit intimidated. It's a novel experience."

"I know you won't hurt me. See, one of Nightwing's weaknesses is how stupidly loyal and caring he is; you know that, you've used it against him. He'll do anything for his friends and family, to keep them from getting hurt. But the thing is, you _don't _want to hurt those who are really close to him. You've seen the dark in him, you know what he's capable of. The only times I've ever seen him really tap into that potential, stop holding himself back, is when someone's hurt his family. You should be very, very glad that what you did to the Titans didn't have any long lasting effects, or he might have actually murdered you."

"I doubt that."

"You haven't seen him angry." Red-X said, deadly serious. "He's terrifying, sometimes. He hardly ever gets truly pissed, but when he does it's usually because some villain beat one of his family up."

"Hmm." Slade carefully filed that information away. He had already known about Nightwing's dark side, but not the anger. "How long have you known him? How did you meet?"

"I wasn't aware this was an interview." Translation: I'm not telling you anything. Slade wasn't surprised by this response. Red-X was notorious for keeping his secrets close, although this apparently did not apply to Nightwing. Furthermore, it was obvious that X didn't trust him, which made him wonder why X had come to him. He was worried about Nightwing, yes, but no doubt he would have been able to contact him later. So why had Red-X come to him almost immediately?

"Allow me to ask one more question." Jason sighed. "What?"

"Why did you contact me?" He held a hand up as the young villain began to respond. "I know, you care about him, but why come to me instead of just waiting for him to reappear, or helping the heroes find him?"

Jason blinked slowly at him. "Um." He said, stalling. "Why do you care?" Slade just looked at him. Jason sighed again and met his eyes… eye. "Fine. I came to warn you, too. I know all the details, but the heroes don't. They'll be treating you like any other villain that dares kidnap Nightwing- harshly. It's extremely likely that you'll end up in a body bag after this, but I know Goldie doesn't want that. You've become a sort of… psuedo-mentor to him, I guess. It's a bit unfair, too. You have no idea what's coming."

"So enlighten me." Slade drawled. X rolled his eyes. "Every hero under the sun will be looking for him. Titans, League, unaffiliated, those kept out of the public eye- everyone. And as soon as you're found, they'll _all _be coming for you." He hesitated. "One more thing. You hurt Nightwing in any way whatsoever, and I will personally lead the charge."

The young man was completely serious. He didn't care that he was threatening an extremely powerful villain, or that he was alone with said villain at the moment. He was determined to let Slade know the consequences of hurting Nightwing. It was then that Slade began to understand the true range of Nightwing's influence. Those who cared for him would kill themselves trying to help him.

Red-X's communicator rang. He made a face and answered it, obviously not wanting to talk.

_"So, are you coming?" _Nightwing's voice came out instead of the expected Leaguer's. Both Slade and X gaped at it.

"Do you have a communicator I didn't know about?" Slade asked suspiciously. Nightwing just laughed. _"Actually, I have hacking equipment you were unaware of. I just hacked into X's systems and linked up on the comm you gave me when you went out. Took about five seconds."_

"I worked for hours on those systems." X grumbled. "Damn you, Goldie."

_"I'll help set up some better security if you want." _He offered. X just snorted. "So, why'd you call?"

_"I was bored." _Jason could picture Nightwing sitting at some computer in some villain hideout, feet up on the keyboard, chatting. He snickered quietly. Slade gave him an odd look, but Nightwing took advantage of the opportunity to use some of his Bat-psychic ability.

_"No, Jay, I am not sitting at a computer with my legs up. I'm in the rafters."_

"The rafters?" Jason muttered. "Of course you are. Jeez, Goldie, are you capable of staying on the ground?"

_"Nope. Born in the air, raised in the air, always going to be in the air. Heck, my mom 'was 30 feet about the ground while she was pregnant with me. It's in my blood Jaybird."_

Jason grumbled something unintelligible and shut the communicator. Slade blinked at him. "You hung up on him."

"Not the first time."

Time passed. Finally, they arrived at their destination. Jason was blindfolded, of course, not that that helped. He knew he was in Metropolis. Slade removed the blindfold once they were inside and Jason was immediately attacked by a hug.

"Hey, Jay!" Nightwing grinned. "What's up?"

* * *

The Titans stared at their visitor.

"No offense or anything, but why do you think you can help?" Raven raised an eyebrow, obviously doubtful.

"Adeline Kane, married to Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke the Terminator, a.k.a. Slade." Batman informed her. "Quite dangerous. She's the reason why Wilson only has one eye."

The Titans stared at her in shock. "Wait, you married him?" Cyborg yelped. "Who would marry _him_?!"

Adeline glared at him. "We met in the army. I didn't find out about his mercenary activities until he got one of my sons killed and the other's throat slit, rendering him mute, which was when I shot him. I haven't seen him since."

"But why is Friend Jericho here?" Starfire inquired. Jericho grinned at her. _She's my mom._ He signed. _My name's actually Joey Wilson. _

The Titans were stunned. Did they really know any of their friends? It seemed like everyone was keeping secrets these day.

How many more would they uncover before this was over?

* * *

And fin!

I want to get this posted so I'm not going to bother thinking of something to put down here.

REVIEW! PLEASE!


	15. Slade doesn't know Romani :(

Sorry about the longer waits, I've been crazy busy. Not much to say up here today, so enjoy the chapter!

Oh, italics=Romani. Just so you know.

DISCLAIMER: '

* * *

Nightwing had brought Jason, with Slade following, to the acrobatics room, which was fast becoming Nightwing's home away from home away from home. Nightwing had then immediately flung himself into the air and perched among the rafters. Jason had rolled his eyes and teleported up, prompting Nightwing to pout at him and berate him for 'cheating'. Jason had just shrugged and said that he wasn't an acrobat. The two young men glanced at each other and the simultaneously turned to stare at Slade, who was standing below them, observing. He stared back, one eyebrow raised.

"Out." Commanded Nightwing, pointing at the door. Slade raised his other eyebrow, as if to say _do you really expect me to leave?_

The two looked at each other again before Jason shrugged. Nightwing gave him a look. Jason cocked an eyebrow. Nightwing rolled his eyes. Jason then made a gesture with his hands, palms up, like _what now?_ Nightwing seemed to be thinking for a few moments before smirking deviously. He said something in a language that Slade didn't recognize. Jason's eyes widened before he smirked and replied in what Slade assumed to be the same language. Nightwing cackled. They both grinned down at Slade.

"Doesn't matter if you're in here if you can't understand what we're saying." Jason said smugly. Slade narrowed his eye at the two smug men. Then he sighed, recognizing a lost battle when he saw one. "Fine." He muttered. He turned on his heel and left the room. Jason and Nightwing eyed each other before bursting out laughing.

"_This is almost as fun as antagonizing Bruce._" Jason smirked, still talking in Romani. Neither boy was stupid enough not to realize that Slade had cameras in the room. They would keep to Romani for sensitive information. Nightwing nodded agreement. "_What are you doing here Jay?" _He said softly. _"Really."_

Jason shrugged. "I wanted to make sure you were alright." He said, switching back to English. "I mean, I know that you don't really object to being here, _but so soon after you made up with Dad…" _Switching to Romani halfway through the sentence (**AN/ They will be doing this for the whole conversation. Italics is Romani, in case you didn't realize. Or didn't read the note up top.) **Nightwing sighed. "Yeah, that sucks." He agreed. "But it's alright. How is everyone, by the way?"

"As well as they could be." Jason rolled his eyes. _"Timbo and Gordon have mostly been in Gotham looking on the Batcomputer, but Tim came to Jump with the Team a little before I left. They're pissed, by the way. Bruce has been running himself ragged looking for you. _The Titans are worried, of course, and wondering how the hell their Tower was taken over without them noticing." Nightwing rolled his eyes and nodded, a sad little half-smile on his face. "I'm sorry about that. Especially about _making Dad so worried. _I've been feeling guilty about that." "It wasn't your fault." Jason reminded him. "It was Slade's, really." Nightwing rolled his eyes and shrugged. _"Doesn't matter. Dad's worst nightmare is losing us- and with this so soon after the three-year disappearance…" "Serves him right." _Jason grumbled. _"He's a horrible father."_

"He did his best." Nightwing smiled softly. "Bet you a case of Xenothium that Slade's running the tapes from that camera in the corner through every language translation he can try." Jason snorted. "Sucker's bet. Too bad he's not going to find anything." "The advantages of knowing an obscure language." Nightwing smirked. He stood up. "Well, that's enough serious conversation for now." He proclaimed. "Rafters-tag?"

Jason stared at him. "We haven't played that since we were kids." He whispered. "And you want to NOW?!"

"No time like the present. Unless you want to try the rings…"

"No thanks." Jason shuddered. "'M not acrobatic like you. You're a fricking monkey." Nightwing grinned and leaned over to tap him nose. "Tag." He disappeared. Jason growled, standing up and looking around. "Oh, just wait till I find you, Goldie…" A cackle was his only answer.

When Slade came back in, about half an hour later, they were still playing. He watched, astonished, as his apprentice flipped and leaped around the rafters, nimbly evading Red-X's attempts to tag him. "What on earth?" Nightwing stopped and waved down at him. "Hey! How's the translating going?" He said cheerily. Slade blinked at him. "It's not." He grumbled. "What language was that?" Nightwing didn't get the chance to answer, however, as Jason tackled him. Slade started forward as the two fell off the rafters, but stopped as he saw Nightwing twist impossibly in mid-air and land on his feet. Red-X wasn't as lucky. "Damn ninja." He grumbled as he picked himself off the floor. "How the hell do you land on your feet every time?"

"Trade secret." Nightwing smirked victoriously. He walked over towards Slade. "We were playing tag." He explained. "He hasn't managed to tag me once. The rafters are my domain." Jason rolled his eyes and muttered something about caves and birds. Nightwing shot him a warning glance before turning back to Slade, again. "So, did you need something?"

Slade eyed him and his innocent smile for a moment. "Wintergreen wanted me to tell you that lunch was ready." He said. "Red-X, you are welcome to join us if you wish." It looked like it pained him to extend the invitation, but he did.

"Who's Wintergreen?" X asked, looking at Nightwing. Nightwing replied in Romani again. "_He's like A. Have you noticed that all powerful, slightly evil-ish people have butlers?"_

_"__B's not really evil, he just acts like it." _

The two boys walked out of the room, chatting in Romani. Slade followed with a slightly frustrated look on his face. Obviously, he didn't appreciate being left out.

Dinner went fairly well, with both boys deflecting questions from Slade and joking around with each other. There were several pointed references and comments that Slade and Wintergreen weren't able to understand, but the time wasn't completely wasted. Slade observed and took note of several interesting facts. X was from Gotham, and Nightwing had obviously known him for a very, very long time, so Nightwing used to live in Gotham. He knew this already, but added on the facts that he lived in the better part of Gotham ("Please, if we hadn't rescued you off the streets, you'd be dead by now." "Doubtful. I could fend for myself better on the streets that you would have ever been able to." "I'm sure that if I had to, I would have done fine.") and that he had worked closely with X in the past, before he was Nightwing and X was X. He also realized that X did indeed know Nightwing's ID and history ("Stop calling me Jaybird, Goldie, or I'm going to publish your life story. All of it."). For his part, Nightwing was obviously quite comfortable with Red-X and it didn't seem like he exactly disapproved of his criminal actions, which gave Slade hope that Nightwing really would become his protege.

Finally, it was time for Slade to kick Red-X out with no little pleasure. Before he left, however, X pulled Nightwing aside again and a flurry of hushed whispers in Romani flew back and forth between the two. X had to make sure that Nightwing was truly ok staying with Slade. After he had reassured his brother that he would be fine, really, Nightwing gave him a hug. X grudgingly returned it and then trudged towards the door. He was stopped by Nightwing's call.

"Jay!"

Red-X turned and glared at Nightwing. "Now what?"

Nightwing smiled innocently. "Bring some cookies next time?"

Red-X just stared at him like he was insane. "Sure, Goldie. God forbid we stop fueling your cookie addiction."

* * *

That last bit was inspired by a PM conversation I had a while ago. I couldn't resist :)

Next chapter will be about... Nightwing getting his official villain uniform, I think. Might introduce the first of the villains who will be making an appearance. Slade's scheduled a whole bunch of meetings that 'Wing gets to sit in on, which should be fun. I'm thinking the al Ghuls and the Hive Five at the moment, simply for Damien and hacking- anyone else you want to see?

Sorry, no Bats this chapter :( Maybe next time

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	16. Uniforms and New Names

Again, sorry for the wait, but my computer's screen got messed up. I was computerless for a few days. :,(

BUT I'm back now. Yay!

So, this is the uniform chapter. Dun dun duuuuuhhhhhh. Unfortunately, no guests yet.

Question: Al Ghuls or Hive Five first? Or some other random villain?

Enjoy the chapter! No action, but it's important all the same.

* * *

Once Jason had left, Nightwing turned towards Slade. "So, what now?" He asked cheerfully. Slade frowned slightly. "Now, the vacation ends." He turned and began walking down the hallway. "I have several meetings scheduled for the next few days; you don't have to be present for most of them, but I suspect you will want to be for a few of them. And for that, you need a uniform."

"Which you've made already." Nightwing assumed. "If it's orange, I swear I will shred it, burn it, and dance on it's ashes. I _hate _orange." He knew it would be orange. After all, those were Slade's colors. Slade just rolled his eye and muttered something under his breath. "What was that?" Nightwing asked innocently. Slade ignored him.

They walked down the hallway for a minute or two before reaching a door that Nightwing hadn't seen before. Slade typed a code in the keypad next to the door and stood aside to let Nightwing precede him into the room. Nightwing warily walked in and turned on the light. His jaw dropped open when he saw the suit on a mannequin in front of him. It, more than anything else, showed him that Slade really was changing and listening to him instead of trying to just bulldoze over his will.

The suit in front of him had no trace of orange on it, which was a miracle. It didn't have an overabundance of armor, either. There were armored pads on the shoulders, elbows, and thighs, yes, but not much more than that. The suit was blue, silver, and black. The pants were black with a silver stripe running vertically down the sides. A blue stripe ran diagonally down the top, with a silver stripe to each side. The rest was black, with some more silver stripes running down the arms. Black gloves, of course, with silver pads at the fingertips. A weapons belt was slung diagonally across the chest, running through the middle of the diagonal blue stripe. What looked suspiciously like a gun belt was fastened around the waist. There was no emblem of any kind on the uniform, not even a little silver 'S'.

Slade crossed the room and opened a drawer, tossing Nightwing a bag. He opened it and pulled out a mask. Like Slade's it was metal, but would only cover half his face rather than the whole. It was blue, with what looked like strange silver cloth over the eyes. The light shimmered off of the fabric, creating waring patterns of light and shadow. Nightwing could only imagine how disconcerting it would be if someone was staring into the eyeholes, especially if he was glaring. He blinked and looked up at Slade.

"…wow." He said quietly. "No orange."

"Yes." Slade looked at him, trying to discern his feelings. "What do you think?"

Nightwing stared blankly for another moment before a huge grin split his face. "I love it, actually." He said casually. "So long as you don't actually expect me to stick a gun in that belt."

"Perhaps one filled with blanks, for appearances?" Slade asked innocently. Nightwing glared. "No. guns." He said seriously. "It's not gonna happen. Ever." In reality, the gun thing was his biggest bargaining chip. Slade would do almost anything to get Nightwing to use a gun. Nightwing would keep that chip in case something cataclysmic arrived. You never know what might happen. Plus, using a gun would be betraying Bruce, and he couldn't do that just yet.

He looked over at Slade. "So, did you think of a name?" Slade shrugged. "I thought perhaps you would want to choose it. Hence the lack of emblems on the suit."

Nightwing thought for a moment. but really, he already knew. "Renegade." He said almost immediately. Slade raised an eyebrow. "That was fast." "…. I may or may not have already put some thought into it." Nightwing said sheepishly. Slade's eye widened. That was more than he could have hoped for; Nightwing had really been thinking about it, even when he wasn't with Slade? He shook himself out of his thoughts. "Well, go on." He gestured towards the suit. "Put it on. There's a bathroom over there." Nightwing looked at him with an odd expression before moving forward and taking the suit off the mannequin. He disappeared into the bathroom.

Slade leant back and thought. Well, that had gone well. Nightwing had actually liked the suit, so it seemed that Slade hadn't been too far off the mark. He had been afraid that Nightwing would have wanted to design his own suit, but they didn't have time for that at the moment. At the very least, he didn't seem to loath it like he had the first uniform. Thinking of it made Slade wince. That hadn't been one of his brightest ideas, but then again, at that point he had still been going with the impressment technique. He hadn't thought about Nightwing himself, as a person. Now that he was, he was making more progress. These next few days would be even more of a test, both of Slade and Nightwing; Nightwing, because he would actually have to act like the villain he hopefully would become, and Slade, because he had to show Nightwing that he wasn't going to overpower him, even when they were acting like a mentor and apprentice.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a soft cough. He looked over to the side and was confronted by Renegade. Renegade, because this obviously wasn't Nightwing; he knew that it was, of course, but he could still hardly recognize the man. He looked intimidating, dangerous, and, frankly, like a villain. The transformation was amazing. Renegade himself had had similar thoughts when he looked at himself in the mirror. He doubted that even Bruce would recognize him immediately. In that uniform, he _was _a villain, on the outside at least. He was Renegade.

Slade blinked a few times. "…Well." He said finally. "That should be adequate, for now at least." Renegade smirked at him, seeing through his nonchalant attitude. "No need to be all nonchalant." He teased. He turned in a slow circle. "I hate to admit it, but it's pretty awesome. Mind if I steal some ideas for my Nightwing suit?" Slade shrugged. Hopefully, after this, there would be no Nightwing suit.

"Our first guest will arrive in about an hour." He said. "I would suggest getting acquainted with your new uniform. Be in the kitchen in forty five minutes."

The Titans had questioned Adeline thoroughly, gleaning as much information as possible from her. After they were done, it was Batman's turn. Unfortunately, Addie hadn't been able to pinpoint one specific base that she thought Slade would be in. She had pinpointed several bases across the U.S. and a few in Europe. Superman was deploying teams from the Watchtower to search them. And Batman was still stuck in Titan's Tower, going through file after file, itching to get his hands on the man who had taken his son. And if that wasn't enough, Arkham had had a breakout. Again. He had sent Robin back to Gotham, and he, Batgirl, and Artemis were working together to round them all up.

Batman felt a faint rush of wind as air was displaced by Jason's sudden arrival.

"Red-X." He greeted. "Why are you here? I thought you wanted to keep far away from us."

"I do." X shifted nervously. "I just… Goldie's fine, Bruce."

Batman looked up sharply. "You spoke to him? You know where he is?"

"Um… yes and no. I sorta blackmailed Slade into bringing me to talk to him, but he didn't let me see where he took me."

"But you saw Dick." That was the important thing right now. He needed to know that Dick was alright, that he wasn't being hurt or tortured or anything. Jason apparently sensed that.

"He's fine. Happy as he could be, give the circumstances. He won't be hurt or anything Bruce. Worst come to worst, he becomes a villain, but he won't be dead, and he'll be happy. Anyway, he's completely unharmed, feels a bit guilty about disappearing so soon after you two made up, but he's not going to break the rules."

"He's alright." Batman breathed. That had been what was worrying him most. He wasn't totally convinced that Slade meant him no harm.

"Well enough to ask me to bring him cookies, anyway." X rolled his eyes. "He says hi. So, I just wanted you to know. I'm going to leave now."

"Jason." X paused with his hand halfway to the teleport button on his belt. "Thank you." Batman said softly. X nodded. "No prob."

He disappeared, leaving his father alone one more.

* * *

I couldn't just leave DaddyBats hanging. His relief is kinda messing with his interrogation habits right now, but rest assured he'll be trying to call Jason for interrogation later and Jason will cheerfully ignore him. I think this is it for Jason for a while, unless I include a scene where Jason actually delivers cookies, which would be fun XD

Dick has just crossed an important line here, people- he's actually accepted the role of Renegade, a villain. LE GASP! But it was going to happen. He's not going full villain yet, but he's getting there.

So, answer the question up top please. And REVIEW!


	17. Renegade trolls some more

What's this? Is it a chapter, so soon after the previous one? Why yes, I believe the author got off her lazy butt and typed up a new chapter!

Ok, joking aside, it seemed like the general idea was the Hive first, to lead up to the al Ghuls. So, yeah. Enjoy the chap!

DISCLAIMER: So... tired... of... doing... these...

* * *

"You're kidding." Renegade deadpanned. "The Hive Five? _That's _your super-important villain meeting?"

"No." Slade said in a 'duh' tone of voice. "That's the meeting _before _my 'super-important villain meeting'. This is more of a routine meeting."

"But _why_?" Renegade demanded. "They're a joke, even more so since Jinx left. They can hardly get along anymore."

"Yes." Slade sighed. "A shame. However, they are perfectly capable of distracting the Titans for a few hours while we travel. And didn't they defeat your team a few times?"

"Yeah, yeah, but mostly back in the early days when we were still working things out." Renegade was curious about the 'travel', but decided to file it away in favor of pursuing the current avenue of conversation. "You do realize it's not just the Titans anymore, right? This is a League thing too. How're you going to distract them?" Slade waved that issue aside. "I'm sure that they're not watching very closely." He dismissed. "I doubt they'll catch us." _Right. _Renegade thought. _Because Batman totally doesn't have every camera, spy and any other possible source pointed at finding us. Uh huh. _"In any case," Slade continued, "they'll be here in a minute. You don't need to be there for this meeting if you don't want to, but next meeting you will be coming." Renegade nodded. "Is there a way I can listen in without actually being there?" He wondered. "I'd rather not have to participate this time." "I'll set up some cameras, then."

Sure enough, when the Hive arrived, Renegade was lounging in the monitor room where he and Slade had watched the Titans through the spy cameras. He was watching the proceedings in the meeting room with interest; he'd never seen how the 'other side' operated, behind the scenes. It turned out that some of the Hive hadn't actually come, just Gizmo, Billy Numerous, and See-more. They sat nervously at the table in the room, waiting for Slade to enter. Renegade snickered slightly; Slade enjoyed making an entrance almost as much as Bruce did. Briefly, he wondered why he was always stuck with the unfriendly, overdramatic, bad-at-expressing-emotions would-be fathers. It seemed like he would be stuck with people like that for the rest of his life. If not Bruce, then Slade.

He inspected the villain team for a moment. Would this be how he would have ended up, if Bruce hadn't taken him in? A two-bit criminal on a team with other villains trying to make their way in the world? The thought for a moment. _Nah. _He thought. _At the very least, I would be a gang lord in Gotham or something. _Putting that thought aside, he eyed Gizmo's equipment with a slight smirk. Well, he'd wanted to do something for a long time, why not do it now? His smirk widened as he pulled out his hacking equipment.

* * *

In the meeting room, the Hive- or the part of it that was there, anyway- were getting a little impatient. Patience wasn't really their strong suit, unfortunately, which had gotten them into a few messes. Then again, that should be expected, with an (albeit fairly brilliant) kid like Gizmo. Which was why they brought See-more, who had been branded as the most mature one after Jinx left. There wasn't much of a competition.

"Where _is _he?" Gizmo demanded. "We've been sitting here for forever!"

"It's been ten minutes, Gizmo." See-more replied. This was going to be a long day.

"Yeah, bu' if Slade called us here for a meetin', he shoulda at least showed up on time." Billy Numerous complained.

"Yeah." Billy Numerous clone #1 agreed.

"This is jus' disrespectful." Billy Numerous clone #2 added.

"I say ya'll should just shut up already." The original Billy said.

"I think we should stop insulting the guy who's base we're in right now." See-more suggested.

"An excellent suggestion." A voice came from the shadows. The Hive jumped.

"Told you." See-more whispered.

Slade chuckled, coming out of the shadows.

* * *

In the monitor room, Renegade rolled his eyes. _More dramatics. _He looked back down at the tablet in his hand and kept working on what he was doing, barely listening to the rest of the meeting. Blah, blah, blah, intimidation, blah, blah, blah, cowering-in-terror, blah, business proposal, I-don't-know-if-you-can-handle-it, blah, blah, just-don't-kill-us, blah, blah, blah. Boring. Thank god he didn't actually have to be there. He'd probably go insane if he had to sit there. Hopefully, the next meeting would be better.

In the mean time, he had hacking to do.

* * *

Slade was just finishing up with the Hive when Gizmo's 'backpack' started to act up. First, the mechanical spider legs the boy seemed so fond of using due to his… vertical challenges came out, almost impaling Billy Numerous. Then, a few of its miniature rocket-things went off in the room, causing everyone to duck for cover.

"I would advise you to get your technology under control, Gizmo." Slade said, deadly calm. The Hive members shuddered. "Gizmo, stop it." See-more said urgently.

"I'm trying!" Gizmo shouted. He was typing frantically at the controls while his tech sparked and continued to malfunction. "Some bleat-brain's messing with my tech!" Despite all of his efforts, he didn't seem to be able to get control back over his equipment. If anything, it got worse.

"Well." Slade said, standing up during a momentary lull in the chaos. "Once you get your technology under control, Gizmo, I'm sure you can find your way out. Good day." He strode regally out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Gizmo's tech let out a few more missiles. "Help!" See-more yelped.

Slade walked a little down the hallway before giving up and letting out a chuckle. Oh, the expressions on their faces… he continued on to the monitor room where Renegade greeted him, feet up on the keyboard of the computer, laughing at the scene in the meeting room. He had a satisfied smirk and was typing on a small tablet in his hand. He looked up and back at Slade. "Think I should give them a break?" He smirked. Slade looked at him for a moment before settling on a chair next to him. "I think this is too amusing to stop." He smirked back. "How are you doing this?"

Renegade shrugged. "Hacked his tech. It wasn't difficult. Took about 5 minutes, which is shamefully slow for me."

Slade stared at him. _My god._ He thought. _I've been trying to access Gizmo's tech for years, and he does it in five minutes. _"If you say so." He said slowly. He leaned back on the chair. "Keep it up another ten minutes or so." He instructed "You might as well demolish the room, I'll have to redecorate anyway."

Renegade laughed and tapped a few more buttons. The two relaxed in their chairs, watching the chaos and laughing. It felt nice. It was almost like being at home in Wayne Manor.

* * *

"Anything new?"

Batman had finally left Titans Tower… and gone immediately to the Watchtower. Superman was getting a bit worried, but knew that in all likelihood Bruce would collapse soon anyway and so didn't say anything. Instead, he did the only thing he could do- ask about Dick. Batman glanced at him.

"No." He said shortly. "Red-X managed to get in contact with him, somehow, but he refuses to tell me how. He won't do it again; or at least, not for us."

He thought back to the incredibly frustrating attempted interrogation. Needless to say, it hadn't gone well. Jason had refused point-blank to have anything to do with them. The Batglare had failed to intimidate him, as had the threats. Eventually, the Bat had to accept defeat.

And plan how to win the next round. Because there would be a next round, whether Jason wanted it or not.

He turned back to the screens. Heroes were combing every inch of the globe, and they still couldn't find Nightwing anywhere.

It had been almost a week.

* * *

So, al Ghuls next chapter.

In my personal opinion, the Hive is just a bit immature. I mean, go watch Lightspeed, when they're all in the base before they capture KF. Seriously? And Mammoth just, like, demolished the fridge. Fridges are expensive, people. I guess that's why the Hive needed to steal so much...

Incidentally, is TT KF Wally or Bart? It's obviously not Barry or Jay, but was it ever confirmed which one it is? I'm just curious.

REVIEW! Please


	18. Al Ghuls Part 1

OK, so here's part one of the al Ghul meeting. It was getting pretty long, so I decided to cut it in two and give you guys a new chapter earlier. Hope you enjoy!

Oh, and for this story, Talia and Dick are pretty close. She's not quite Mom level yet, more like Aunt I guess.

DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I don't own anything. Get it?

* * *

As soon as the Hive had left, Slade had started his preparations for the next meeting. Apparently, they were going to someone else's base for this one. This led Renegade to come to several conclusions:

1) Slade was sucking up to these people by going to them rather than making them come to him, which meant that

2) They were of a higher rank than him in the villain hierarchy, which meant that

3) These people were powerful and dangerous, which meant that

4) He and/or his father had fought them at some point. Joy. Which meant that

5) He would have to be careful. Very, very careful.

He still didn't know who they were going to meet though. **(Unlike all of the readers. Surprise? What surprise?) **

So, Slade was running around trying to get everything ready. However, he was hampered by one slightly important detail. He didn't know where they were going. Oh, Slade knew who they were going to meet, of course, but not the actual location of said meeting. Apparently, the people they were meeting would send them the coordinates.

_Paranoid much_? Renegade thought. Not letting them know where the meeting was decreased the chances of the location being leaked and also had the added bonus of reinforcing Slade's inferiority, which Renegade had to give some brownie points for. Anyone who could antagonize Slade while not really seeming like it was good in his books.

Finally, Slade called him. He had received the coordinates. Renegade took one look at them and groaned.

"No way. We are _not _going to a meeting with the al Ghuls."

The coordinates were those of one of the al Ghuls' lesser bases. It also happened to be the one that he would most often visit Talia in. Well, at least his fact list had been right. Mentally, he added 'and/or dated one' to number 4.

Slade had looked at him and demanded to know _just how you knew who the meeting was with just based on the coordinates. _Renegade shrugged and told him it was one of those mysterious past things he was always dangling over Slade's head, and that he would just have to deal with having it forever bother him. Slade had retaliated with a raised eyebrow and pointed out that he would find out about Renegade's past eventually. Renegade had just smirked.

At the same time, he was freaking out. This was pretty much the worst scenario possible. If he made even the tiniest of slip ups, the al Ghuls- or Talia at least- would recognize him instantly. They'd spent too much time together for her not too.

"Are you sure I have to go?" Renegade asked in a last ditch effort to get out of this. Slade sighed. "Yes, Renegade." He said exasperatedly. "I've told you that several times. They've expressed interest in meeting my new apprentice." Which meant _bring him or suffer the consequences. _Terrific.

And so, not ten minutes later, Renegade was sitting on Slade's private jet (why did everyone have one of those?) on the way to the al Ghuls' base. He tried not to let his agitation show, but inevitably, he started fidgeting. His fidgets tended to start up whenever he was nervous or agitated. Which he was. Slade, of course, noticed. He tried to ignore it, but eventually his apprentice's fidgeting got to him. He put down the files he was reading and glared at him.

"Just what are you so nervous about?" He asked icily. Renegade immediately stopped fidgeting and looked sheepish. "Sorry." He muttered. He didn't answer the question. Instead, he got out of his seat and moved to the opposite side of the jet, away from where Slade was sitting. After a few minutes, Slade glanced back over at him. He dropped the files he was working on.

Renegade was twisted into the weirdest position he had ever seen. It looked like he was a human knot. After a few moments, he somehow disentangled all his limbs and moved to a new position that seemed equally painful. His eyes were closed, but they opened and looked at him when Renegade felt his gaze. He lifted an eyebrow in question. Slade just shook his head. Renegade smirked. "Contortionism." He said lightly. "Yet another of my many talents. It helps calm me down sometimes." Slade didn't even bother commenting. He just added that fact to his mental list and continued with his life.

A few hours later, they reached the al Ghuls' base. They were shown in by some servants. Slade looked around, noting every detail as he walked, including the fact that Renegade was doing nothing of the sort. Something for him to improve on. Of course, Renegade wasn't looking around because he knew every detail of the base.

They were shown into an elaborately decorated room. Two figures stood on the other side of a long, ornate wooden table- a man and a woman. Ra's al Ghul and his daughter, Talia.

"Welcome." Ra's said. He moved forward to shake Slade's hand. "We are glad you could make it. And who is this?" He asked, nodding towards Renegade.

"Renegade, my lord." Slade said silkily. "My apprentice."

"Welcome, Renegade." Talia said softly. "Would you care for any refreshments?" Renegade politely refused, as did Slade.

Once the pleasantries were over, the four took a seat at the table and got down to business. Renegade didn't pay much attention to the beginning; it was standard business, nothing very interesting. However, when the door opened again, he found himself very interested.

A young boy walked into the room. He held himself proudly, but was looking down so Renegade wasn't able to see his face. He walked over next to Talia, who put a hand on his head. "This is my son, Damian."

Renegade chocked. Her _son?! _

The boy looked up and met Renegade's eyes. He had olive toned skin, lighter then Talia's, and black hair. But his eyes...Renegade gasped. "_Holy Bruce's eyes." _ He whispered, reverting back to Romani in his shock. Talia's head snapped towards him. He cursed quietly- obviously, she had heard. She stood up and walked over to him, eyes narrowed. He held his breath as she looked him over, then sighed as her eyes widened. She recognized him.

"Richard?" She asked, disbelieving. Renegade looked up, flapping his hands at her. "Shh!" He hissed. "He doesn't know!"

Slade was looking at him with a calculating look. "Richard?"

Renegade groaned. "I do have a real name, you know. I wasn't born Nightwing."

"Nor was Nightwing even your second name." Ra's said calmly. "I was under the impression that you were kidnapped."

"I am." Renegade rolled his eyes. "He-" jerking his head towards Slade "-kidnapped me in order to force me into being his apprentice."

"Ah" Ra's nodded. "Well then. How are you, Richard?"

"Fine, thanks. Umm… do me a favor and don't tell Dad about this, please? I mean. he knows I'm kidnapped and everything, but don't tell him I was here, or that I'm Renegade, please."

"Of course." Talia nodded. "Don't worry. Would you do me a favor as well?"

"Sure. What's up?" He grinned at her.

Talia had to hide a smile. Even now, he was still the lovable nine year old with bright blue eyes. And with no concept of how to respect those above him. Judging by Slade's horrified look, he obviously didn't approve of his apprentice's attitude. She understood why. For most people, that kind of behavior would likely end in pain. For Richard, it was different. After all, he was practically her son- and her real son's brother.

"Would you take Damian while we finish the meeting?" She asked. "Show him some of your acrobatics, or tell him about his father." At this, the young boy's gaze snapped to him and his eyes widened. Obviously, he wanted to hear about his father. Renegade grinned at him. "Sure, Talia." He said casually. "We'll be in the acrobatics room if you need us. C'mon, Dami."

The boy blinked at him. "Dami?"

Ra's chuckled. "Richard is in the habit of giving everyone nicknames." He said dryly. "I shudder to think what he might do with your name." Renegade just grinned impishly at him. "I haven't given you a nickname." He pointed out.

"Only because there are none." Talia drawled. "Go on, you two." Renegade shrugged and grabbed the boy by the hand and led him out of the room. Slade just stared after them, completely flabbergasted. "You… you already knew him?" He asked, confused. Talia and Ra's exchanged amused glances.

"Of course." Talia answered. "Being who he is, how could we not?"

This only made Slade more confused. "I… I was not aware that being the leader of the Titans would result in him knowing so many people."

Ra's narrowed his eyes appraisingly. "You don't know, do you? You know him only as Nightwing, and now, Renegade. You do not know who he was before."

"No." He admitted. "There's a lot that I don't know about him." An odd looking smile passed over Ra's' face. "I pity you then." He said quietly, with an undercurrent of amusement. "You don't know what kind of retribution this will earn you."

"Renegade… Richard has mentioned something along those lines, but no, I am not aware of the specifics." Obviosly, he hoped that the al Ghuls would help him with that. Unfortunately, he was disappointed. Ra's changed the subject.

"I commend you on convincing him to join our side." He complimented. "Many people have been trying for many years. Even my daughter and I could not convince him."

Slade was overwhelmed by the influx of information. Renegade was close to the al Ghuls? They knew who he was? They had been trying to convince him to join them for years before he became Nightwing- implying that Nightwing's hero career was much longer than he had supposed? His view of his apprentice was changing. He hadn't realized just how big his influence was on the world, and just how many people he was connected to.

"Well." Ra's said, bringing Slade back to the present. "Perhaps we should return to our business. No doubt your apprentice and our grandson will be occupied for quite some time. Perhaps we could add something about borrowing your apprentice to our negotiations?"

* * *

So, obviously, Dick and Dami next time.

There were two ways this chapter could have gone. The first, obviously, is the one all nicely written out and detailed above. The other would have been something like this:

Talia: Welcome, Slade. Welcome, Richard.

Slade: Who?

Ren: How did you-?

Talia: Your brother told me, of course. I like the new costume. Are you eating well? Slade, I hope you realize that if you hurt him you're going to get murdered by a bunch of ninja assassins led by me. Richard, there's some cookies for you in the fridge. By the way, this is my son, Damian. Say hi Damian.

Ren: HOLY BRUCE'S EYES! Oh, and thanks for the cookies.

Yeah, I love that line XD For obvious reasons though I chose the version I wrote up over this one. It's just a tad too unrealistic.

Anyway, hope you liked the chapter!

Review!


	19. Dick and Damian

__Ok, before I let you go to the chapter, I've got something to say. I've been getting reviews from guests that say, quite simply, _hurry up_. Or _hurry hurry up._ That's it. Now, I love reviews and everything, but honestly, at least give me some feedback if you're going to tell me to hurry up! Those reviews just annoyed me and usually turned me off writing for a while rather than made me go faster. I don't mind if you say that at the end of a review, but at least tell me _something_, not just two words.

Now that I'm done ranting...

Are you ready? Here's Damian and Dick!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

* * *

_"Would you take Damian while we finish the meeting?" She asked. "Show him some of your acrobatics, or tell him about his father." At this, the young boy's gaze snapped to him and his eyes widened. Obviously, he wanted to hear about his father. Renegade grinned at him. "Sure, Talia." He said casually. "We'll be in the acrobatics room if you need us. C'mon, Dami."_

_The boy blinked at him. "Dami?" _

_Ra's chuckled. "Richard is in the habit of giving everyone nicknames." He said dryly. "I shudder to think what he might do with your name." Renegade just grinned impishly at him. "I haven't given you a nickname." He pointed out. _

_"Only because there are none." Talia drawled. "Go on, you two." Renegade shrugged and grabbed the boy by the hand and led him out of the room. _

* * *

As they left, Renegade heard the conversation start up again behind them and smirked. No doubt Slade was utterly and completely confused. Heh. Sucks for him. He hoped that Talia wouldn't tell him too much though, he was looking forward to seeing Slade's expression when he found out everything. Plus, it was a big bargaining chip, one he had a feeling he would need.

Banishing the worry from his mind, he glanced down at the boy trailing behind him. God, he looked like Bruce, especially his eyes. He wondered how Bruce would take the discovery of his son. He'd probably flip and demand to do 20 DNA test, then be all awkward for a while, and then get his act together eventually. Or when Dick threatened him.

For his part, Damian was observing the man he was following as well. Mother had called him 'Richard', and that he knew Father. Damian assumed this man was Richard Grayson, his father's ward and heir. He was surprised to find him working with a villain. From what his mother had told him, Damian thought he was a hero through and through. Apparently, he was wrong.

Maybe he could convince the man to tell him some stories about Father. Mother told him a lot about him, yes, but no real stories about his fights. And maybe Richard would show him some fight moves that Father thought him, so Damian could show Father he was worthy to fight with him. Or against him.

He blinked when he realized that Richard had stopped. He looked at the room they had stopped by and frowned. "Mother said I'm not allowed in here unless I was invited." He said. "That applies to you as well."

The man blinked at him. "Oh. Well, I'm inviting you now, kay?"

Damian scowled. "Why do _you _think you can do that?" He asked rudely. The man rolled his eyes.

"Well, Talia _did _build this room for me." He said, pointing to the stylized bird on the door. "It's not like your mom or grandpa does acrobatics." He stopped and pulled a face. "Wow, it's so _weird _thinking of Talia as a mom." He muttered. "And thinking of Talia and Bruce-" He cut himself off quickly, shaking his head. "_Baaaad _images. I need some brain bleach right about now."

Damian stared at him as he punched in the code for the door. He was a bit… different from anyone else he'd met. Perhaps he wouldn't be _too _bad.

Renegade let the boy in the room and followed after him, flicking on the lights. He couldn't help but smile at Damian's dumbstruck look, which was quickly replaced by an air of haughty disdain once he realized Dick was watching him. Renegade's smiled widened when Damian sniffed and said, "Well, I suppose it's…adequate."

Renegade glanced around with a feeling of coming home. For him, any acrobatics room felt like home, and he was never truly comfortable without one. He was a bit surprised by the number of acrobatics rooms popping up around him; the circus, Wayne Manor/the Batcave, the Watchtower, Mount Justice, Titan's Tower, Slade's hideout, and here. Seemed like he could make his home anywhere, as long as the person who lived there didn't want to kill him… all of the time.

Renegade walked a few steps into the room and plopped down on the floor, sitting pretzel style. He grinned at Damian and patted the ground next to him. Damian looked a little hesitant but walked forward and sat next to him before scowling. "The _floor_, Grayson? Not even a chair?"

Undeterred, Renegade just answered cheerfully. "Well, there aren't many chairs in here, are there? And good, you figured out who I am."

"It wasn't hard. There's only one Richard Mother has told me about."

"Fair enough." The man shrugged. "You can call me Dick though."

"Isn't that a… less formal name for male genitalia?"

"It's also a nickname for Richard. Deal with it." Renegade rolled his eyes. "Although, in front of Slade- or anyone else, really- I'm Renegade or Nightwing, depending."

"One name isn't enough?" Damian inquired archly.

"Those aren't even all of them." Again, Renegade contemplated the boy besides him. It was obvious that the al Ghuls had raised him, just based on his attitude, although he was still young and not completely arrogant. Actually… how old was he?

"Eight." Damian told him when he asked.

Ok. He was eight. Which seemed awfully young for the way he acted. Oh well. No doubt some time with him would fix everything. Renegade leaned back on his hands and smirked at Damian.

"So, Little D-" He paused and burst out laughing at the expression on the boy's face. _"Little D?_" Damian said scathingly. "My name is _Damian_, Grayson."

"And mine's Dick, not Grayson." He leaned over to ruffle the boy's hair, which prompted another disgruntled look. Damian couldn't understand- who _was _this man, who acted so casually around him, like he was… like he was his little brother.

Hmph. He still didn't like it.

Apparently, Dick had given up on talking for the moment to let Damian think and was looking around the room. His eyes landed on the trapeze and his whole face lit up, but he turned back to Damian instead of giving into the urge to use it. "So. I can tell you some stories about your father or show you how to use some of the equipment in this room. Or both, since the adults will probably be doing boring negotiations for a while. What do you think?"

Damian thought for a moment, but knew what he would choose almost as soon as the words came out of Dick's mouth. "Tell me about Father." He said quietly.

Dick smiled softly at him. "Sure thing. Your dad's a great man. Even though he doesn't really seem like it, he really does care about people…"

As Dick talked, Damian began piecing together a picture of his Father. Whenever Mother or Grandfather talked about him, they made him out to be almost godlike, although admittedly on the wrong side. Dick, however, painted a much more realistic picture. He told of his triumphs, but also of his failures. At some points, Dick seemed almost like he was worshipping the man; at others, he spoke with a deep rooted bitterness. Damian was so absorbed in the stories Dick told that he didn't notice the time slipping by. By the time Dick fell silent, almost an hour and a half had gone by, and Damian had a much better understanding of his father.

But hearing the stories made him wonder- how would his Father react when he learned of Damian's existence?

"Grayson." He said uncertainly. "Are you going to tell Father about me?"

Dick blinked. "Umm…." He paused. "Probably not." He said slowly. "Your mom will probably ask me not to, and I don't think we should tell him until you're actually in front of him so he can't deny it."

"That implies that I will meet him." Damian pointed out.

"Of course you will." Dick scoffed. "If nothing else, I'll kidnap you and bring you there."

Unconsciously, a small smile spread across Damian's face. "Like you could evade all the guards and get me out." He mocked. Dick laughed and stood up in a fluid movement. "C'mon." He held his hand out towards Damian. "I'll show you how to use the trapeze. It's practically an induction ceremony. You can't be a Bat unless I teach you the triple. I even tried to teach Bruce, which, trust me, was _not _easy."

* * *

When Talia, Slade, and Ra's finished with their business, they realized that it had been almost three hours, and they hadn't heard a peep from Renegade an Damian. Which, as everyone knew, could only mean bad things. Talia remembered that Richard had said they'd be in the acrobatics room and led them there.

"Might I ask why you have an acrobatics room?" Slade inquired. Talia shot him a surprised look. "For Richard, of course. He cannot possibly survive anywhere without his acrobatics, and we've been trying to convince him to join us for a long time. Essentially, it was a bribe."

"Which didn't work." Slade assumed.

"Oh, I don't know." Talia smirked. "He certainly visits us more often now, even when he disappeared- but he didn't disappear for you, did he."

They reached the room, cutting the conversation short. And just when it had been getting interesting, Slade lamented. When they entered the room, their eyes immediately went to the trapeze, where Richard was standing on one of the platform laughing down at Damian who had fallen onto a net set up below the trapeze. Obviously, he had just fallen, and was scowling darkly at Richard.

"_Why _must we continue doing this?" He grumbled.

"Because otherwise I won't ever take you out for ice-cream." Richard said cheerfully.

"You _haven't_."

"That's true. Huh." He glanced down at the three watching. "Hey, Talia, mind if I kidnap Damian to get some ice-cream? Otherwise, the blackmail won't work."

"It probably won't work anyway." Talia responded. Richard shrugged. "Worked for Jay, it'll work for him." He said, unperturbed. "Pleeeeease?" He whined, giving her puppy eyes from behind the mask.

Talia laughed. "Oh, all right." She gave in. "You can go get ice-cream, if Slade will let you."

Now Slade was subjected to the puppy-dog eyes. "Fine." He sighed. Richard cheered and helped the boy out of the net. He grabbed him by the hand and towed him out of the room, presumably to change into civvies.

Ra's smirked at Slade. "He has everyone twisted around his finger." He said serenely. "He is quite possibly the most well liked person ever to be encountered in either the hero or villain communities, with some exceptions of course. Good luck." And with that, the al Ghuls left the room, leaving Slade to find Richard and Damian and bring them for ice-cream.

* * *

When they returned, Talia and Ra's were waiting for them. Damian immediately went to stand by them while Richard remained near Slade.

"Bye, Dami." Richard said cheerfully. "I'll come teach you how to use the trapeze some more another time."

Damian disappeared inside without a word, but everyone could see the smile tugging at his lips. Talia moved forward to hug Dick.

"Thank you." She whispered. "He's very happy."

"Yes, I could see that." He replied, straight faced. Talia laughed. "What do I have to bribe you with to make you come babysit?"

* * *

One, two, three- AAAAAWWWW!

Hope this lived up to expectations. And so ends the meetings mini-arc, next up will... probably be the whole Slade finding out Nightwing's Robin thing. Maybe I'll stick in a chapter with the League first, if I can come up with an idea for one.

So, what'd ya think? Review and tell me!


	20. Still searching

So, this is a kinda-boringish chapter. No action, at least. No dialogue either- le gasp!

Finally, another League chapter. It's kinda a serious chapter, cause the League and Team and Titans and etc. aren't exactly happy at the moment. So, enjoy!

* * *

Time passed.

Time always passes, no matter what anyone does. Unless, of course, you were some time-stopping villain or something, but let's not get into that. The point is, time passed, sometimes quickly (when they had a lead) and sometimes slowly, agonizingly slowly (when those leads turned out to be dead ends and _where do we look NOW?!_). Time passed for the searchers, for the researches, for the one everyone was looking for. And yet, nothing _happened._ Dead end after dead end after no leads at all after dead end. The search went on, but it didn't accomplish anything.

Batman had to hand it to him, Slade was _good. _Almost as good as Dick himself when it came to disappearing.

He had sorta kinda taken over the League for this. Not that anyone minded, of course. And he'd somewhat controlled it beforehand anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. Superman was too busy stopping volcanoes and hostile takeovers that no one else had time for to really participate in the search, so he wasn't there challenging his authority. No one challenged his authority when it was one of the Robins on the line. Or Batgirl. Or the Team.

Robin III and Batgirl were taking care of Gotham for him while he searched the globe, desperately looking for his son. It had been so much time, and assurances be damned, he wasn't so sure that Dick was ok. Even if he was, it was only a matter of time until he wasn't.

Batman didn't want to admit to himself that currently, the most likely definition of 'not alright' was becoming a full-fledged villain, not actual harm. But this was Dick, he might toe the line but he would never actually cross it, right?

_(Across the country, in a secret base, there is a boy, a man really, wearing a uniform of blue and silver and black with the heart of a hero, slowly being coaxed closer and closer to crossing that line. But he wouldn't cross it yet. He learns all the skills necessary, and is ready to, but didn't yet have that push to spur him to take that last step. But it was only a matter of time. Everything is, after all.)_

And so he searches, and searches, and in a completely uncharacteristic move actually prays. He lets those close to him, those precious few whose numbers seem to be dwindling by the second, comfort and help him, but in the end, he looks and plots alone. He hopes, at the bottom of his heart, that he will be alone when he finds Slade as well (he doesn't want anyone else there, to hold him back to stop him to keep him from getting revenge from the man who stole his _son_.) He won't kill him- that's one line he won't cross, and it will only push Jason farther away, too- but he will make him suffer and regret the day he set eyes on Dick. He doesn't care if they're on good terms now, that man (_that monster_) hurt his son in the past, and he would pay for that. Batman is good at keeping grudges. It may be his downfall, later, but for now it's his motivation.

He will get Dick back, somehow, someday. He will never let him out of his sight again (he's fooling himself, of course. Dick won't be caged, not by him, not by anyone. Not by Slade.)

He will keep looking, even if the others are losing faith. He won't give up.

* * *

Time passed.

The Team was forced to return to Mt. Justice. They search, yes, but they've also taken over a lot of League missions. They've replaced the League, in a sense, since so many are looking for Nightwing and even if they were taken away from the search, they would just worry about him and not really concentrate. Artemis, M'gann, Superboy and Zatanna are a little confused; they understand that Batman and Superman and the other team mentors are worried, but why is everyone else so worked up? It's a kidnapping, they deal with those all the time, and they didn't think Nightwing was so close with so many of them.

In answer, Wally pulls up a video recording. It's dated about 7 years ago, give or take. It's a video of Mt. Justice. It's dark in the cave, but they can tell some people are there. They don't understand- what's going on?

Then part of the screen lights up, and the familiar voice of the Zeta-beam goes off, announcing Batman and Robin's entrance. With a shock, they realize that cute little boy in pixie boots is Robin, _their _Robin. The girls coo.

The chibi-video-Robin looks around the cave, obviously confused, and his mouth moves. There's no audio on the recording- it's old- so they can't tell what he says, but not a second later the lights suddenly turn on and the League- as it was at the time- pops out of hiding places and shouts something. Presumably, it's 'surprise!' since there's decorations all over the cave and a sign saying _Happy Birthday Robin_ and they birthday boy seems completely surprised by the party. He laughs and the League swarms him and hugs him and wishes him happy birthday. Everyone is smiling, in the video and in real life. Wally turns off the video.

Robin was the baby of the League, he explains. The first sidekick, the first person under 20 to be associated with the League. Add that to the fact that he was so dang _cute _when he was little, and within 5 minutes of meeting any Leaguer, new or old, had burrowed his way into their heart. And he had the _best _puppy-dog eyes, even through the mask. Flash used to joke it was their secret weapon. Even villains would stop because of it.

Point is, _everyone _loved Robin. He called all of the 'Aunt' or 'Uncle', except for Batman. Back then, he would slip sometimes and call him 'Dad'. Whenever he was hurt, or scared, or lonely, the entire League would drop everything to help him. That had lessened a bit as he grew up and made it clear that he needed his independence, his space, but there was never any doubt that anyone and everyone would drop everything to help him if he needed it. He helped everyone, sometimes just by listening or being there, and everyone wanted to return the favor.

Artemis, M'gann, Superboy and Zatanna are left with a new impression of their Boy Wonder. He may be their 'little brother', but he's more important than any of them. And they don't resent that; it feels right.

Or course, this doesn't stop them from worrying, or sneaking out to search on their own, or wishing they were there with him to help. Now, they know that that feeling is shared by, well, everyone.

Nightwing is _theirs_. Their brother, their confidant, their troll, their unofficial leader.

So they keep looking.

* * *

Time passed. And Roy was _pissed_.

He wasn't part of the Team, he wasn't part of the Titans, he wasn't part of the League- and he wasn't part of the search effort. He didn't fit in anywhere. Bats had the League going everywhere already, the Team teamed up with the Titans to go over everything the League did with a fine-toothed comb, and he had _nothing to do_.

Go take care of Star, they said. We need people in the cities, they said. Who knows, they might go to Star, and if you're not there, who going to catch them?

That was bullshit.

But he did what they said, because he didn't have much of a choice, and he knew that arguing and making a stink about it would only hurt. So he patrolled, and reported back, and fumed, and took care of his adorable little baby Lian. It was while he was rocking Lian to sleep one night that an idea struck him. Carefully, he put her down and pulled out his phone.

Ten minutes later, he was frantically calling Batman on his comm to tell him about Slade's visit to Ra's al Ghul, information courtesy of Cheshire. Who said having a slightly evil ninja sorta-wife was a bad thing?

* * *

Time passed.

The Titans couldn't believe they were doing this _again_. Nightwing really had to get out of the habit of being kidnapped by evil megalomaniacs. Seriously, it was not ok anymore.

They stayed in Jump at first, dealing with the typical Titans villains, like usual. For some reason, the absence of Slade and Nightwing seemed to encourage the numbskull small-time villains to make mayhem. It was exhausting, frankly, and frustrating. They wanted to be looking, not fighting idiots.

Then, YJ came with an offer. They would team up, help each other cover their respective duties and then search for Nightwing. They would follow behind the League, be the second pair of eyes to catch what they missed. After all, they knew Nightwing better- shouldn't they be able to pick up on clue the League didn't?

And so the two teams bonded through Nightwing, and just for this crisis, became one team instead of two.

* * *

Time passed.

_Finally, _a breakthrough. And it was quite possibly the _stupidest_, most coincidental breakthrough ever. There was _no _detecting or investigating involved. It was pure, simple, dumb luck.

Since Batman had relocated to the Batcave from the TTower, Superman was flying over to talk to him after briefing the Titans over recent developments (*cough nothing cough cough*) when he heard it. He picked it up unconsciously, without even realizing it. Once he realized what he was hearing, though, he froze.

It was singing.

Full out, who-cares-who's-listening singing. Like Dick sometimes did when he was working on his acrobatics. Superman had heard him singing it so many times, he had practically memorized the song despite it being in Romani, which was probably why he had picked it up. But at that moment, he didn't really care _how_, he just cared that he _had_. The singing cut off before he could pinpoint its location, but at least it shrunk the search range. It was a start.

Batman would be jumping up and down with joy- that is, if he wasn't the Goddamn Batman, as previously stated.

* * *

And done! I'll probably do a confrontation chapter between Batsy and Slade next, and then onto the next big arc! Which, admittedly, will probably be only about 2 or 3 chapters, but still, it'll be _big_.

REVIEW!


	21. Confrontation

OMG, people, so, so sorry for the wait. Its been crazy-week this week, and next week is hell-week. Fun times. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to write, so...

Anyway, enjoy the confrontation between Batsy and Slade. Note: This is NOT the chapter where Slade finds out about Dick's past. At the moment, it's looking like there will be one more chapter before that, but don't hold me to that.

Also, I would like to take some time to vent about the new YJ episode, if that's ok. **SPOILERS** coming. Anyway, this episode totally took me back to one of the first stories I wrote about finding original-Roy. Honestly, who else was excited to see Arsenal appear? Although I do wish they'd shown us more about how he became Arsenal. And why he cut his hair. Seriously, we had hippie-clone-Roy and now we have buzz-cut-original-Roy. Plus, Green Beetle! I've never heard of him, but I'm excited to see where this goes. And poor Kaldur! Psimon's going to go through his head, and find out the plan, and oh my god!

Right. Rant done. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own this

* * *

"Hello, Batman." A voice like mercury sounded behind him. Batman turned around.

"Deathstroke." He greeted. Inside, he was strangling the man slowly, and enjoying it, but outside he was cool as a cucumber. For the most part.

"I thought it was about time we had a talk." Slade continued, walking forward slowly. "After all, it's been so long since we've fought. I've switched to Slade now, Deathstroke is dead." Literally. He'd staged Deathstroke's death once he'd taken up shop as Slade.

_"_I know." He also knew the death had been staged. He wasn't the world's greatest detective for nothing. Plus, when all of this had started, Batman had dug up every scrap of info he had on Deathstroke, including the staged death.

The two men, complete opposite sides of the spectrum, stood and watched each other. Neither wanted to make the first move. Batman, surprisingly, broke first.

"Where is he?" He asked (ok, so maybe it wasn't so surprising. He was a worried father, give him a break).

Slade just smirked. "He's fine."It was obvious that they were talking about Nightwing, and he _was _fine. When Slade left, he had been helping Wintergreen with the dishes and making bad jokes. It really was amazing, how much Nightwing had changed since those heroes made their way to Jump. This wasn't the time to think of that though. He walked forward a few steps, eying Batman curiously. "What I want to know is, why do you- and the League- care so much?"

* * *

Superman had gone straight to Batman after hearing the singing, pausing only for a few moments to confirm where he was and the direction he thought the singing had come from. Batman hadn't seemed to react, but Superman could detect the slight relaxation of his tense stance and the barest hint of a smile. Batman immediately turned and started typing on the computer next to him, pulling up a map and creating a new search range based on Superman's information. He divided it into five different sections and then glanced over at Superman and outlined his plan. They would thoroughly search each of those areas separately, then let the League come in an sweep the whole thing.

It was time for Superman and Batman to stop plotting and planning and actually go out and search.

And so, the next day, Clark Kent met Bruce at Wayne Manor and together they prepared to leave and search. A young voice stopped them.

"You're going to look for him?"

Bruce paused, looking at Tim. He nodded once. Tim took a breath and set his shoulders. "I'm coming with you." He plowed over Clark's attempts to protest. "You've kept me here the entire time, I want to help. He's my brother too, you know." He glared at Bruce. He'd been a good boy till now, stayed in the Batcave and coordinated the search. But as every day went by, he was getting more and more anxious and scared, and he wanted to be _doing _something, dang it. Even the Team and the Titans were looking- everyone but him.

Bruce looked at him for a long moment. "Alright." He gave in. "But you listen to everything Clark and I say. If we tell you to leave, you leave. Understood?"

Tim's face lit up. He nodded violently before running off to get his uniform.

"Are you sure, Bruce?" Clark asked with concern. Bruce nodded. "He's right. He's as worried about Dick as anyone, but I haven't let him help. At least this way, he'll be with us instead of sneaking out on his own."

Ten minutes later, they were in the first search section. They started at the warehouses, because the villain is always at the warehouses or the docks or some forgotten lab under the city. Everyone knew that.

They split up when they saw how many warehouses there were. Superman went one way, and Batman and Robin went the other. They would search each warehouse for clues or anything suspicious and meet in the middle. At least, that was the plan, until Superman radioed that _you should probably get over here. Like, now._

Batman and Robin quickly made their way to Superman's location- a warehouse crawling with Sladebots.

"Subtle." Robin commented. Batman narrowed his eyes. He knew this was probably a trap, that it was definitely not where Dick was, but it was worth investigating anyway.

"Robin, stay out here." He ordered. "Stay out of the way; it's probably a trap."

"But you're going anyway." It wasn't a question. Batman's only answer was shooting out a grapple and swinging into the warehouse, Superman following after. Immediately, they were swarmed by robots. After a few minutes of fighting, Batman noticed a pattern; they were trying to separate him and Superman, pushing him towards a room on the side. He allowed himself to be herded to the room, wanting to find out what was going on. As soon as he stepped in, the robots froze and left him alone, although he could hear the ones after Superman going strong.

Which brings us back to where we started.

* * *

"Well?" Slade encouraged. "Just why, exactly, is my apprentice so important to just about everyone, it seems?"

"He is _not _your apprentice." Batman growled. Slade raised an eyebrow. "You sound like him." He commented. "Nightwing hates it when I call him my apprentice, even now. A pet peeve of his, I suppose."

Batman held back the urge to punch him then and there. "What do you want?" He growled. "You set this up for us; you must have a goal." Slade was a veritable criminal mastermind, and this warehouse thing was glaringly obvious. It was a lure, obviously, because Slade apparently wanted to _chat_. Batman was losing patience fast. This man had his son, and he wanted to have a casual chat. It was infuriating, but he held himself back. Slade, apparently, still didn't know about his relationship to Nightwing, and Batman wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Slade shook his head, mock-disappointed. "I've said it several times already, Batman. I want to know why the kidnapping of my _apprentice _has gotten such concern from the Justice League. Even the al Ghuls hinted about a connection. You can understand why my curiosity was piqued."

Batman remained silent, mind working furiously. Apparently, the al Ghuls hadn't told him anything substantial, just hints. Even Nightwing himself obviously hadn't told him much, although he was likely dropping hints. The fact that he hadn't told Slade everything gave Batman hope that his son hadn't been turned. Yet.

"I don't see why it concerns you." Batman said calmly. Distract him, stall him, but don't tell him anything big. "He's the leader of a major group of superheroes, one that we may not agree with, but we still try to help."

"Ah ah ah." Slade wagged a finger at him. "I might have believed that before, but the Titans wouldn't go to you for help with anything; they're notoriously prideful, and Nightwing appeared to hate the League."

_He didn't hate the League. _Batman thought. _He wanted to avoid __**me**_. That fact still hurt him, even now. He knew he had hurt Dick with the fights, but he hadn't realize that it was that bad, until Dick ran away,

He brought his attention back to the present, as Slade was still speaking.

"You have a deeper connection to the Titans than that." Slade continued. "Or if not the Titans as a whole, with Nightwing. No doubt something to do with his mysterious past that he keeps hinting at. That connection seems to be strongest with you more than anyone else. I want to know what that connection is."

Batman decided to get to the point already. "Why would I tell you anything?" He asked. Honestly, the villain couldn't just expect him to divulge personal secrets. It wasn't realistic.

"Because I'll let you speak to Nightwing." Slade said easily. Batman froze.

Well. He hadn't expected that. Blackmail, threats, yes, but bribery? The scary thing was, though, that the blackmail and threats wouldn't have worked- but this bribe just might. He was about to respond when Robin dropped down next to him. The boy stared at the villain opposite. "You're Slade." He stated.

Slade raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for stating the obvious." He drawled, inspecting the boy. Robin colored and glanced at Batman. "What's going on?" He asked. Batman glared at him. "I told you to stay outside." He growled. Robin shrugged before looking around. "Hey, where'd he go?"

Batman's eyes widened and his gaze whipped back to where Slade was, but wasn't anymore. He sensed something and quickly turned back towards Robin, just in time to see Slade trap him in a headlock. Robin's eyes widened and he started to struggle; obviously, he hadn't sensed Slade behind him. Slade let out a breathy snicker. "Pathetic." He said, shoving the boy away from him. Robin quickly moved back to Batman's side, eyeing the villain warily. Slade let out another chuckle. "It's so hard to find someone with _potential _these days, isn't it, Batman?" He asked casually, like he hadn't just attacked his side-_partner_. "Your first bird actually had some, but they've just got worse and worse." Batman could hardly breath- did he know after all?

Slade shook his head. "You know, as soon as I saw the first Robin, I saw the potential in him. It's what made me set up shop in Gotham originally. Even then, I was searching for someone worthy to teach. You kept him away from me, though, except for that one time. After that, you took pains to get me out of the way as soon as you could." He took a step towards Batman, deadly focused. "Why was that? Were you scared, perhaps, that I would take him away just as I've taken Nightwing?" He sighed. "But you did keep me away from him, and eventually I left Gotham, and he became just one of those possibilities of the past. I admit, after he disappeared, I toyed with the idea of looking for him, but then Nightwing caught my attention, and well…"

Robin gaped at him. He hadn't known about Slade's history with Robin I. It seemed like Slade and Dick were drawn to each other. Plus, he couldn't believe that Dick caught Slade's eye _twice, _in completely different contexts. He really did seem like the 'perfect apprentice' for Slade.

He was also mildly insulted by Slade's comments. Not that he _wanted _to be kidnapped b a psycho, but he did have some potential, thankyouverymuch.

Slawe sighed suddenly. "But I digress. We were discussing a deal, were we not? You tell me about Nightwing's connection to you and the League, and I let you speak to him. It can be done in a moment. What do you say?"

Batman was silent, Robin looking at him wide-eyed. This was a no-win situation. If he refused, Slade would know that this connection was very, very important and secret. If he accepted, well, that was obvious. But he'd be able to talk to Dick. Robin, seeing his dilemma, tried to buy him time.

"How do we know that you really will let us talk to him, even if we do tell you?" He challenged. Slade glanced at him, amused. "I don't believe it's your decision, but I give you my word. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you speak to him."

Just as Batman was about to answer, yet again, he was interrupted by Superman's entrance. "Batman, did you find- oh." He stopped, staring at Slade. "Guess you did find something."

"Indeed." Slade drawled. "Can we expect anyone else to join us?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Enough stalling, Batman. You have 30 seconds before I leave."

"What-" Superman started. Batman cut him off. "Fine." He said. "Nightwing has been associated with the League in the past. He's met most of us, but not very often. We lost track of him years ago."

Slade looked at him through narrowed eye. "I'd like some specifics, Batman." He said, losing patience. "Nightwing and Ra's al Ghul have essentially told me that already. I'd like to learn something new."

"That's all I can tell you." Batman said quietly, knowing that that would likely nullify the deal- after all, he hadn't actually told Slade anything.

Slade considered him for a moment, then lifted his hand towards a comm in his ear. "Nightwing." He said quietly. Batman's eyes widened- he was talking to Dick.

"I'm coming back now." Slade continued. "Unfortunately, you won't be speaking to the search team today. Unfortunate, I know." He lowered his hand and nodded towards Batman. "Let the game continue." He said, then turned and vanished into the shadows.

As hard as they tried, Batman and Superman were too slow to stop him. They didn't find him again.

* * *

OK, so back to Slade and Renegade next chapter. Oh and for the record, Slade's calling Renegade Nightwing because he doesn't want Batsy to know about Renegade yet, though he'll find out.

So, probably one more chapter leading up to the big reveal. I've got to do some research first, though, because I'm kinda taking a comics arc and twisting it around to fit my needs. You'll see.

REVIEW!


	22. The Beginning of the End of Ren's Secret

First off, sorry for the wait. It's been hell week at school. Hell week= Midterm week without the half-day-midterm-week, so instead of one test and then going home and relaxing/studying/typing, you have 3 tests, other classes, and go home normal time and do homework/cramming. Fun times. Thank god it's over.

So, some issues:

Ok, so I keep saying that I'm using an arc from the comics for the big reveal, which starts this chapter, and then I do some research… and I find out that it isn't actually from the comics. It's from TV apparently… I think. The wiki was vague, and then I couldn't find it when I looked, and and and… *bangs head on wall*. Whatever, I know it happened, 'cause I've read about it in fanfics and the wiki did have a summary, I just can't find what and where it is. Oh well. Help?

This is the beginning of the end for the Robin secret, people. Next chapter is the end, probably. Then, we go to the rescue. This story's reaching the climax.

Umm... we get some Slade POV this chapter, which I honestly don't have enough of.

...any more issues? No? Then enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, as evidenced by getting comic events mixed up with TV events. *Hides in SHAME*

* * *

On his way back to the base, Slade let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. He had to admit, he hadn't expected Batman and Superman to be so close. Last he checked, they had still been searching the opposite side of the country. Something had happened, something he wasn't aware of, to narrow the search range for them. They would be closing in quickly now; he hadn't expected them to find that warehouse for weeks, although he had taken the opportunity presented to him to intimidate the competition a little. Plus, you never knew; they might have unwittingly let something slip, although unfortunately that hope hadn't born fruit. All he knew now was that Renegade definitely had a close relationship to the League somehow. He started thinking about whether it was time to move bases, but pushed the thought to the corner of his mind for now. They weren't that close.

Let the game continue indeed.

He reached for his communicator- the one in his belt, not the ear one- and called Renegade. Slade had told him that he was leaving, of course, but hadn't told him why or where he was going. The call in the warehouse had been faked. Why give them a chance at tracing the call when they weren't going to talk to Renegade anyway? He was debating how much to tell Renegade when the young man answered.

"What's up?" Renegade said cheerfully. Slade raised an eyebrow. "You sound happy." He noted. A laugh floated through over the communicator. "I've been in the acrobatics room the whole time. Seriously, if someone wants me to work for them, they should just bribe me with equipment like this and some cookies. Or a trapeze."

"Hmm." Slade hummed while making a mental note to get a trapeze. "I'll be back soon, and I want to talk to you about something that happened today. Perhaps you should freshen up."

"Sure." Renegade agreed. "What happened?"

Slade hesitated. "I'll tell you when I get back." He hung up.

Leaning back again, Slade let his mind wander- this time, to Renegade, his sort-of apprentice. He said sort-of because although Renegade was staying with him and learning from him, Renegade hadn't actually taken the role of his apprentice. Hopefully, at some point soon, Renegade would declare his loyalty to him, and that would make taking care of the heroes so much easier, because there was another part to their agreements that Renegade hadn't told the heroes or Red-X about.

They had agreed, that should Slade either relinquish his claim to Nightwing or should Nightwing declare his loyalty to Slade, all bets were off. The deals they made would be null and void, and Slade would be free to do whatever he wanted to in order to get the heroes out of his hair. Both had agreed to that not really expecting either to happen, but now… now, it was looking like it just might. This time, there was a real possibility that Slade would win.

That made him very happy, which may or may not have contributed to the fact that he hadn't actually tried to fight the heroes. Why risk ruining things, getting captured, when everything was going his way?

The young man behind Nightwing's mask was getting ever closer to giving up his life as a hero for one as a villain. Everything was going right, for once.

* * *

It was another half hour before Slade was back in his hideout. Renegade was waiting for him in the kitchen, munching on some chips. Slade frowned at the junk food and Renegade gave him a cheeky grin. He felt that he was entitled to some junk, thank you. He hadn't had any pizza or anything for weeks, something akin to sacrilege in Titans' , Slade agreed, or else just didn't want to bother arguing, as he let the issue go without a word. In fact, he sat down across from Renegade and stole a few chips. Renegade protested halfheartedly for a moment before giving up and asking about what had happened that day.

"I ran into Batman and Superman at one of my warehouses." Slade answered. He didn't fail to notice Renegade's widening eyes and the hint of concern in his voice when he inquired further. He relaxed, however, as Slade continued with the story and it became apparent that no one had gotten hurt. However, he tensed again when Slade asked him about his relationship with the League. He tried to avoid the issue, but Slade wouldn't let him wiggle his way out of it again.

"You've avoided me whenever I asked you before." He said firmly. "I would like a straight answer."

"There isn't really one." Renegade hesitated. "My relationship with them- with nearly every hero, actually- is complex and completely a part of my life before I became Nightwing. Technically, Nightwing doesn't know any of them. Back then, yes, I was close with many of them. Do we have to do this now? You'll find out eventually, especially if I stay with you for much longer, but I would like to keep it a secret for as long as possible. It's personal, and there's a lot of issues attached to it that were only sorted out recently, so…"

"Fine." Slade said tersely. This was really starting to irritate him. He was used to being in charge of everything, and this could throw off all of his plans if he didn't make provisions for whatever it was. He needed to know, but he would wait. He'd find out eventually.

Patience is a virtue, but being a manipulative evil mastermind was better than that.

* * *

Another week went by without much excitement, other than more attempts to find out about Renegade's past. Renegade, however, deftly managed to avoid all questions. He cited repeated efforts by the Titans for his skill at talking around the question.

A week from the warehouse incident, everything changed, and Renegade would finally give up his secret.

Despite the fact that he had been kidnapped, Renegade was still keeping up with the news outside, both because of the communicator he'd hidden from Slade (although the only thing he could get from that were updates about the search) and through what Slade told him. Apparently, an apprentice wasn't useful unless he was kept up to date about the politics outside. Go figure.

However, even that was a learning experience. As Slade was, obviously, a villain, he heard the news from the villain standpoint. Since he started his career as a hero, Renegade had only really heard the hero side, but apparently the villains had a gossip vine as well. Slade would tell him and Wintergreen about the newest gossip over dinner, when he was there. Usually, there wasn't much interesting.

Usually.

That day, Slade had come in, late as usual, with a slight smirk. "Well, it seems that Batman may be out of our hair for a while." He announced. Renegade stiffened and tried not to choke on the bite he'd just taken of his dinner. "Why? Did something happen to him?" He tried to ask casually, but his worry seeped through.

Slade shook his head. "Not to Batman, no. To Robin." He said, sitting down and pulling his plate towards him. Renegade's fork paused halfway to his mouth. "What happened?" He asked, abandoning all attempts at being casual.

Slade shrugged. "Joker kidnapped him." He answered. "Apparently, he's a bit ticked off at Batman for ignoring him, and he's gotten jealous of how all the villains seem to be passing on their legacies through protégées and apprentices… he wants his own, and decided to kill two birds with one stone."

Renegade dropped his fork.

* * *

Yup, I'm going the Joker Junior route :) It actually probably won't get that bad, but... as a warning, the concept will be used as a backround for these events, there will be little to know cannon relating to it. I just needed an idea as to why Renegade would give up his secret.

So, next time, we get Slade finally cluing in and Renegade kicking Joker into next year.

REVIEW!


	23. Renegade vs Joker

So, I was really excited for this chapter, so I actually sat down and wrote it. It also helped that I don't have any tests this week after hell week last week. That was nice :)

Just an acknowledgement: thank you to TSRowenwood for being my test bunny for this beginning part way back when. Yes, I did copy most of that, I just tweaked it a bit. Hope you like what happens after though!

A note- I suck at fight scenes. For those of you expecting an epic battle between Renegade and Joker... sorry about this. I cheated and did it from the perspective of Tim, who's just been tortured and is half unconscious, so I could get away with making it vague and blurry. Again, I apologize to those of you who wanted a decent description of the battle.

And that's it! So... read!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Can't think of something funny.

* * *

_Slade shrugged. "Joker kidnapped him." He answered. "Apparently, he's a bit ticked off at Batman for ignoring him, and he's gotten jealous of how all the villains seem to be passing on their legacies through protégées and apprentices… he wants his own, and decided to kill two birds with one stone." _

_Renegade dropped his fork._

* * *

"WHAT?!" Renegade all but shouted. Slade shot him an odd look. "Joker kidnapped Batman's latest bird."

"Yes, yes I heard that. But you said he…" Words failed the young man. Slade raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior. "Intends to make him his own protégée, apprentice, follower- take your pick." He clarified. Honestly, he didn't see the big deal here. It was Batman's third Robin; one had disappeared, on had died, it didn't take much imagination to think of what the third one would go through, if the trend continued. However, Renegade seemingly didn't share his blasé opinion.

"Like hell." Renegade muttered, and made to get up from the table. Slade stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, honestly curious. Surely he didn't intend to do what Slade thought he did?

Yes, he was, as Slade found out with the next sentence. "To help him _before _Joker messes him up." Renegade said plainly. Slade just started at him for a moment before leaning back and sighing.

"Renegade, you're not a hero anymore. You can't just go running off to help them, _especially _if it ruins another villain's plans. Understand?"

"Screw being a hero, this isn't what this is about Slade! Joker's caused us enough pain already, like hell I'm going to let something like this happen!"

"Regardless, you can't just-" Slade started, but Renegade cut him off.

"Look, let me go help him, _please. _I'll wear your uniform, I'll tell you why this is so important, you can come chaperone, hell, I'll use a gun to do it! Just _let me help_."

Slade blinked. He'd use a _gun?!_ Renegade had flat out refused to use a gun outside of the training couse, no matter what Slade had offered in return. And now he was offering to use one, on the _Joker _no less, to help Batman's sidekick.

That was what told him that even though he didn't quite understand what was going on, this was really, really important to Renegade. Who was he to stand in the young man's way, especial if he could get Nightwing to use a gun and take another step towards fully becoming a villain?

"…Fine." Slade finally said. "But you're explaining on the way."

"Yes!" Renegade leaped up from the table and ran towards the door. "Come on! There's no way I'm leaving my brother with _him _for longer than I have to!"

"HE'S YOUR BROTHER!?"

Well. That had been unexpected… and yet it explained _so much_.

* * *

Renegade had rushed Slade into the car in about 5 minutes, including time to change into uniforms and grab gear. True to his word, Renegade only carried a gun rather than his usual plethora of weapons. Slade was pleased to see how naturally he had handled it, prepping it with barely a thought while panicking over his brother. Progress.

They had a short drive to Gotham, and Slade fully intended to take advantage of every moment.

"Robin is your brother." He stated. Renegade nodded, giving him a _did my words not make that clear? _look.

"By blood?" Slade asked uncertainly. They didn't seem too much alike, but that didn't matter since Renegade shook his head.

"Adopted." He said shortly. "Same with Jay- Red-X."

Slade's eyebrows shot up incredulously. "Red-X was a Robin?" He had trouble believing that. The thief was just so far from a Robin… and besides, weren't only two of the Robins alive, including the current one? Did that mean that Renegade wasn't a Robin? Renegade picked up on his thoughts.

"We both were." He explained quietly. "X was the second one. Yes, X died- turns out Ra's is fonder of us Robins than you would think."

Slade nodded thoughtfully. That explained the behavior at the meeting with the al Ghuls. And the behavior with Red-X- they certainly acted like brothers. He opted to pursue another avenue of questioning rather than those thoughts.

"So that's why the League is paying so much attention to this."

Renegade shrugged. "I was the original sidekick, the baby of the League. They all watched me grow up- it's natural to assume that they're just a hint attached to me." There was a slightly sarcastic edge to his voice. He was understandably a bit on edge, you know, because his little brother had been kidnapped by a psychopath dressed as a clown.

Slade blinked. "You…. you were the first Robin." He realized. Renegade rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, but Slade was too busy appreciating the irony of the situation to notice. Turns out that the two candidates for his apprenticeship were one and the same, which meant that Renegade had caught his eye two separate times in two completely different settings years apart. If that didn't mean that he was the perfect apprentice for Slade, he didn't know what did. This only made him more determined to hang on to his apprentice, which of course was why he was going along with Renegade. Everything was going right, up 'till now, and now he and the heroes were on semi-even footing, knowledge wise, and he would do his very best to have everything keep going right.

* * *

Slade and Renegade crouched on the ledge overhanging the room where the Joker currently was monologuing to a bound Robin on a lab table about how they 'were going to be a family, little JJ, don't you worry, just as soon as you break!' and so on. Renegade frowned as he looked over at his brother; Tim wasn't looking very good. He was obviously in pain and tired, but had stayed strong up until then. Joker had had him for three days already, and Renegade shuddered to imagine the type of tortures he'd been through.

That was all going to end now.

He withdrew from the edge somewhat and glanced at Slade. "So, are you here to help, or just to watch?" He asked. Slade thought for a moment.

"Watch." He decided. "It wouldn't do for me to been seen fighting him." Not to mention the fact that he wanted to be able to enjoy watching Renegade use a gun in the field for the first time, rather than be distracted by fighting. Harley Quinn wasn't there, anyway, so Renegade didn't really need backup. Renegade nodded and opened his mouth to respond when he was distracted by a distinct lack of monologuing, replaced instead with insane laughter as Joker skipped over to a console and pulled a lever.

Electricity arced through wires onto the table where Tim was. Tim screamed in pain.

Renegade threw a swift glance at Slade before getting up and striding quickly to the edge of the ledge again. He pulled out the gun and aimed at the console, pulling the trigger once. The bullet slammed into the screen and short circuited the computer, making the electricity stop. Robin slumped against the restraints, half unconscious. Joker looked around for the gunman, spotting Renegade just as he flipped off the ledge into the room, gun still in hand.

"Well, that wasn't nice." Joker pouted. "Who are you?" Without waiting for an answer, he pulled out some laughing gas bombs.

Robin tried to lift his head somewhat to see what was going on. He could just barely make out the two figures through his blurry vision. His vision cleared enough to see the strange man fighting the Joker. After a few moments of what looked like hand-to-hand fighting, the man evaded a flag shot from Joker's gag gun and decided to use his own gun. He pulled the trigger on his gun again and shoot the Joker in first one leg, then the other, while dodging mini gas bombs and other attacks. Evidently, his aim had been good despite the distractions as the Joker collapsed, clutching at his legs. The man holstered the gun and walked over to the Joker, kneeling down next to him.

"Next time, you might want to think before kidnapping my brother." He hissed. Robin's eyes widened. Jason?

Joker let out a wheezy laugh. "Boy Blunder! Where have you been? I've missed you! This new one isn't nearly as fun as you were." He cocked his head to the side. "Since when do the Boy Blunders use guns?"

The man narrowed his eyes and stood up. "We don't usually, but I made an exception. Don't you feel special?" He kicked the Joker in the leg before hauling him up by his collar and punching him in the jaw, knocking him out. He unceremoniously dropped the clown and glanced up to the ledge before hurrying to Robin. He quickly undid the restraints and caught him as Robin slid to the ground. Robin tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't hold his weight and he collapsed against the man.

"Who-?" He managed to croak out through a throat rough from screaming.

"Shh." The man- Jason?- said, slowly lowering him to the ground. "It's ok, Timmy, I'm here now." Robin squinted up at the man. His brain refused to function and tell him who the man was. The man must have sensed this and his lips quirked up in a smile. "Don't recognize me in my new duds?" He teased, then he looked back up at the ledge. "Do you have a water-bottle up there or something?" He called. Robin looked in the direction that the man was looking. His eyes widened as a man dressed in black and orange nimbly jumped down with a water bottle in hand.

"Thanks." The man holding him said, taking the water bottle and opening it before putting it to Robin's lips. Robin gulped down about half the water before pushing it away. His gaze returned to the second man who had retreated to the other end of the room once he had handed over the water bottle. "That's-" Robin coughed and cleared his throat. "That's Slade." He whispered. He looked up at the man still supporting him. On closer inspection, he didn't look much like Jason, which meant… "Dick?" He whispered. The man glanced over at Slade to make sure that he wasn't watching them and then pulled up his mask a little to reveal Dick's blue eyes. "It's me, little bird." He confirmed. "And yes, I'm sill kidnapped- I made another deal."

A sudden fear overwhelmed Robin. "What did you give up?" He asked. Dick looked at him and shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We got to you before Joker could do much harm, that's the important thing." Renegade evaded. Before Robin could respond, Renegade gently released him and turned to Slade. "Toss me my bag?" He requested. Slade complied and tossed it to him. Renegade caught it and rummaged inside for a moment before pulling out a Bat-communicator. Slade raised an eyebrow. "Did I know you had that?" He asked mildly. Renegade shrugged. "You didn't know to look for it, and if I gave it to you before it would have raised some awkward questions. Namely, why I had one if I supposedly hated Batman and the League. So I didn't tell you."

He fiddled with the back of it for a moment before looking up at Slade. "Once I reactivate the GPS, we'll have to leave quickly." He stated. Slade nodded and began to gather up their stuff. Renegade hesitated and then knelt back next to Robin. "Once I activate this, Batman will be here within minutes. You'll be alright." He said quietly. "Say hi to him for me?"

Robin's eyes widened in slight panic. "You're not staying until he come? I thought…" _I thought you were coming home_. Renegade smiled sadly and shook his head. "Sorry, Timmy." He whispered. "I told you, I'm still kidnapped. The deal I made included me returning with Slade immediately." He gave his little brother one last hug before getting up. He stopped again and opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, but Slade interrupted him.

"Renegade." He called. Renegade glanced over at him and nodded.

"Bye, little bird." He whispered, then activated the GPS on the communicator, hit the emergency button, dropped it near Robin, and disappeared with Slade.

* * *

Half a city away, Superman was briefing Batman about what had happened with the search for Nightwing while Batman had searched for Robin. Their conversation was interrupted, however, by a beep from the Batcomputer, signaling that the emergency button of a communicator had been pressed. Batman quickly brought up the GPS coordinates of the communicator and the details on which communicator it was while half-listening to Superman. His breath caught in his throat.

It was Dick's communicator.

He cut off what Superman was saying.

"That's Dick's comm. Lets go."

* * *

So, next chapter is Bats and Supes again with some Robin thrown in. Say 'aye' if you think I should put in Tim's perspective of the above scenes.

We're drawing close to the end, people. I've got to wrap up the end of the Tim thing and then we're going to the big rescue. If there's anything- anything at all- that you want to see, please tell me. I'm open to putting in some chapters between this and the rescue, I just need to know what you want! Even if you just want to see a specific hero/villain join the party.

REVIEW!


	24. Renegade vs Joker- the aftermath part 1

So, so sorry about the delay! I have no excuse. I just couldn't bring myself to type.

So, the continuation of Renegade vs. Joker- the results! There's a bit of Tim at the top, and then it goes to Renegade. Enjoy!

Oh, _italics _equals Romani, if you don't remember.

Disclaimer: Yeah, no. Have I used this one already?

* * *

Tim was completely confused. It probably didn't help that he'd been electrocuted and that Joker had probably filled him up with unidentified drugs and that he was halfway to insanity. He was tempted to think that he had been hallucinating, but he was fairly sure that even his mind, half broken as it was, couldn't have come up with whatever the heck had just happened.

He had been Joker's 'guest' for three days, and had been hoping against hope that Batman would come to save him. As time went on, Batman turned to _anyone, _just _help me_. The last person he'd been expecting was his brother. His kidnapped brother. Using a gun. Actually, scratch that. The last person he'd been expecting was _Slade_, his brother's kidnapper. And if Slade was there, that meant that Dick had convinced him to rescue him. Which could only mean bad things. Dick had mentioned that they made another deal; the price must have been steep.

Later, Tim would realize that it was actually kind of obvious what Dick had given up, given the fact that they had come to rescue _Robin_. He realized that Slade would only do that if Nightwing had given him a real reason why he had to do it. At the moment, though, he was alone in a warehouse after being tortured by the Joker for three days and had just been rescued by his missing brother and his this-close-to-being-a-psychopath villain captor. Forgive him if he wasn't thinking clearly.

Tim had just gathered up enough strength to shakily stand and take a few tentative steps towards the communicator Dick had dropped when Batman dropped from the ledge where Slade and Dick had been, Superman following behind. Batman landed in a crouch and looked around the room, eyes widening when he saw Tim.

"Robin?" He asked, sounding happy and relieved and heartbroken and disappointed all at the same time. Well, actually he sounded monotone like usual, but Tim could tell. So could Superman, if he wasn't so busy being confused.

Robin blinked at him. "Bruce." He whispered, then flung himself forward into Batman's arms. Tears rose unbidden into his eyes. Batman cradled the boy close to his chest for a few moments, feeling one burden lift off his shoulders. Unfortunately, there were still quite a few more.

While the two Bats had embraced, Superman moved forward to secure the Joker (while noting the bullet wounds) and after to begin inspecting the communicator. It was obviously Dick's- there was a small Superman symbol on the back of the cover. Dick had originally done it as a prank for Batman, to see how long it would take for him to notice, but after that first one had been lost/destroyed in an explosion, Dick stuck a new sticker on the cover of the new communicator. And the one after that. And the one after that. He put it on all of the many, many communicators that followed the first, mostly because it really did bother Bruce even if he acted like it didn't. In this case, it also helped to confirm that it really was Dick's, and that it wasn't just a trick. He said as much once the Bats had separated.

Batman wordlessly held out a hand. Superman dropped the communicator into his grasp and watched as he inspected it and came to the same conclusions. Batman also noticed that the GPS had originally been manually disabled within the communicator itself, rather than the signal simply being blocked. That meant that Dick himself must have disabled it, as Slade would not have known enough about the comm to do it.

Which then brought around the question as to how said communicator had ended up, reactivated, in the warehouse by Robin. The answer was provided by Robin himself.

"Dick was here." He said quietly. "He stopped Joker. Slade- Slade was here too."

Which made no sense. Again, Robin answered the unspoken question.

"Dick told me he made another deal. I think… I think he promised to use a gun in exchange. And maybe told him about being Robin?" He continued uncertainly.

That made more sense. He and Superman exchanged a look. "Dick did that to Joker?" Superman murmured with an odd look.

Batman was incredibly frustrated. Dick had been _right there, _and they had missed him. For the moment, however, he would focus on Tim (aka, make use he was alright and then interrogate him). At least Bruce now knew where one of his sons were. The thought of his sons made him think of Jason. He should probably inform Jason about what had happened. At the very least, Jason could tell them more about the gunshot wounds, and what that meant for Dick.

"Should we put out a sweep for them?" Superman asked. Maybe they could catch up to Dick and Slade if they had enough people looking. Batman shook his head. "They'll be long gone by now. Slade wouldn't have agreed if he didn't have a quick escape route."

Batman wrapped an arm around Tim and helped him stand. Together, the three heroes left the building.

* * *

Contrary to what Batman thought, Slade and Renegade hadn't actually gone very far- just a few rooftops away, where Renegade could watch with a pair of binoculars and make sure that Robin got out alright. When he saw the three leave, he slowly lowered the binoculars and sighed. "Thank you." He told Slade quietly. "I don't want to think of what could have happened to him if we hadn't rescued him."

Slade leaned against the wall next to him. "My pleasure." He returned. "I was impressed with your marksmanship. You hit Joker in two places that would cause incredible pain but not much lasting damage. Those aren't the points I would've chosen, but nonetheless impressive shots."

Renegade nodded once, acknowledging the compliment. He may have had to use a gun, but he wasn't killing yet. Slade turned away and walked to the other end of the roof to grab his stuff. Renegade began to gather all of his stuff in preparation to leave when he heard a new voice from behind him.

"Well well well, look what the cat dragged in. Hello, Kitten."

Renegade turned, a smile spreading across his face. "Hey, Selina. How'd you recognize me?" Catwoman shrugged. "I've known you for a long time, kitten. Plus, you were just talking about your brother. What's this about a gun?"

"It's a long story. It's really nice to see you Selina. Have you- _no Slade, it's fine, you don't need to kill/knock her out!"_

Slade lowered the gun. "Really." He said flatly. "I haven't gone through all this to be caught now." Slade really, really just wanted to get to the base before the heroes could track them down. Catwoman did _not _factor into that. Everyone knew she was close to the Bat. He wouldn't have killed her, but he wasn't telling them that.

Catwoman looked a little insulted. "I _am _still a villain, you know. I won't tell Batsy anything until you've had plenty of time to get away. I just want to make sure kitten's alright."

"Kitten?" Slade inquired, relaxing a little. Renegade flushed. "It's an old nickname. From when I was, like, 10. Shut up."

Slade rolled his eye. "Has _everyone _in both the hero and villain worlds developed a soft spot for you?" He asked, half sincere and half sarcastic. Renegade thought for a moment. "Um… pretty much."

"There's alway Two-Face." Selina pointed out. "He _really _doesn't like you. And what about Black Mask?"

"He's more Jason than me. Yeah, Two-Face and I don't get along. Other than that, though…"

Slade shook his head in astonishment. Renegade apparently had connections to everyone. He could easily have taken over the world by then if he hadn't been restricted by morals and the Bat. Oh well. That would be remedied soon.

Selina and Renegade chatted for a few more minutes, catching up on gossip and not talking about anything in particular. Then, when Slade was beginning to get impatient, Selina switched to Romani.

_"Are you sure you'll be alright?" _She asked. Renegade looked surprised, but not as much as Slade. Slade's surprise soon changed to irritation though. What language _was _this, and why could everyone but he speak it?

_"I'll be fine, don't worry. When did you learn Romani?" _He asked. Selina smirked. _"Bruce taught me. It was going to be a surprise for you, someone else to talk to, but you left before I could show it off._" She pouted. _"What should I tell your dad?"_

Renegade hesitated. "_Whatever you think is best." _He finally answered. _"Tell him I'm sorry about the gun, too. Make sure Timmy's alright?" _

"Of course." Selina switched back to english, signaling the end of that conversation. She quickly moved forward and gave him a hug. "Take care, kitten. Come visit sometime!" She winked at him and disappeared. Renegade turned to face an inquisition from Slade. He smiled.

"She's an old friend. Yes, she knows who I am. She recognized me even in the new costume. She won't tell Batman anything big. And no, I won't tell you what language that was. I need _some _secrets, after all." He rattled off, predicting all of Slade's question. Said super villain sighed. "Fine. Lets just get back to the base."

He turned and disappeared off the roof. Renegade followed after.

He'd given up some of his secrets, rescued Robin, used a gun, talked to Selina, seen Bruce and Clark from a distance, and annoyed Slade several times over. Not too bad for a day in the life of Richard Grayson aka Dick Grayson aka Robin the first aka Nightwing aka Renegade. Wow, that was a lot of IDs.

He left Gotham once more, not knowing who he would be if he returned. If he returned.

* * *

Because they're in Gotham and I can't let Dick leave Gotham without seeing Selina. And Slade's paranoid :D

um... probably one more chapter about the fallout from all this, and then... I have to figure out the 'and then'.

Review! Please!


	25. Bruce in the Batcave

Ok, a short-ish chapter, but I didn't want to get into Selina, so... whatever.

NOTICE: I'm a-goin' on vacation next week, so there will be now new chapter next week. Don't expect a chap until... lets go with at least Wednesday after next. Sorry!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything recognizable.

* * *

The communicator lay on the table, thoroughly dissected. Wires, gears, and hardware were strewn around it on the table. Other than a single piece of metal with a Superman sticker attached, it was identical to every other communicator that Bruce had ever made. Which meant that it held zero clues to Dick's whereabouts. Bruce's hopes were shattering once more. He had been certain, that if Dick had left it he would have put some sort of message into it for him. That apparently wasn't the case after all.

Tim was in the Batcave infirmary, being fussed over by Alfred. The boy wasn't it the best shape, and until he had recovered somewhat he wouldn't be able to tell them anything. That didn't mean that Bruce wasn't doing anything, though. That warehouse had had cameras, and hopefully they had been working when Dick was there. There was a small, small chance, but it was something.

Bruce sat at the Batcomputer and brought up the info for that warehouse. There wasn't really anything special about it, which made Bruce wonder how Slade and Dick had known to look there. Some villain network, he assumed. Slade would be well connected. But that wasn't the important thing right now.

A few minutes of typing brought up what was. Sure enough, most of the security cameras had been disabled, some by Joker, some by- well, he was assuming it was Slade- and then there was one camera that had apparently been hacked by Dick; this camera, however, had not been shut off. Dick had hacking it to turn it back on. He wasn't completely gone yet.

"Bruce?"

Bruce turned and frowned at Tim. "You should be resting."

Tim shrugged. Finding Dick was more important than him resting. Plus, he wanted to find out what had really happened at that warehouse. "Did you find anything?"

Bruce hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should lie so Tim could get some rest, but ultimately nodded. "One of the security cameras was left on. I was about to watch."

Tim accepted the unspoken invitation and settled down next to him to watch. Unfortunately, the angle wasn't the best so they couldn't see where Slade and Dick had been hiding out before entering the room proper. However, they could see- and hear, because there was a microphone- everything that had happened after Dick entered the main room.

Bruce watched silently, inwardly wincing when Dick used the gun to stop Joker. He was glad that Joker had been stopped, of course, but the gun bothered him. Dick would never had used a gun before this. It was just another way he had changed.

Speaking of change, the new uniform was another unwelcome change. Bruce knew that a uniform meant that this was serious. The fact that Dick's new uniform barely resembled Slade's was also worrying. It meant that Slade was essentially establishing Dick as a virtually independent parter, not an enslaved apprentice. It showed a level of trust and confidence Bruce was uncomfortable with.

Despite all of this, it was unbelievable good to see his son again, even if it wasn't in the flesh. He hadn't quite believed that Dick really was ok and healthy. Now, he could see that Dick was alright with his own eyes rather than having to rely on Jason or Slade.

Speaking of Jason, he could probably shed some light on the new uniform. He reached out and picked up the communicator. He glanced over at Tim who was looking at the screen, watching what had happened with a pale face and made a decision.

"Tim. Rest. Now." The boy had seen what happened, and Bruce could fill him in on everything else later, but right now, Tim was supposed to be in recovery, not watching security footage. Tim looked like he was about to protest but nodded and left once Bruce glared at him. He really was tired.

Bruce sighed and called Jason.

"What?" Jason snapped. "I thought I told you that I wasn't going to help."

"I've got some security footage of Dick and Slade saving Robin from the Joker." Bruce said without preamble. "Dick used a gun and had a different uniform. What do you know?"

Jason was silent for a good while.

"Slade's been trying to get Dick to use a gun for a long, long time." He said finally. "I mean, he's taught Dick how to use one- Dick's a better marksman than I am now. But he's refused to use one in the field. He actually shot Joker?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Either Dick's given in or he made another deal. Slade wouldn't have just let Dick go off and rescue Robin. Probably, what happened was that Dick agreed to use a gun to stop Joker, and maybe told Slade about being the first Robin, in exchange for being able to go and rescue the Replacement. Dick told me that he would use the gun thing as a bargaining chip if he absolutely had to. Happy? Can I go now?"

"One more thing. The uniform."

"No idea. He never mentioned a uniform to me. Probably new." Jason was getting impatient. He wasn't a data bank, dang it. Why couldn't they leave him alone?

"Would he have chosen an new name?" Bruce wondered. It was an idle thought, but Jason's silence made Bruce pause. "Jason?"

"…Renegade." Jason said finally. "He told me that if he had to, he would choose Renegade. Am I done now?"

Shocked, Bruce let him hang up. Dick had actually thought about a villain name? And he'd told Jason about it, which made him think that Dick had put some serious thought into it. Which was bad.

This day was just getting worse and worse.

As he was thinking that, Alfred came down the stairs. "Master Bruce, Miss Kyle is here. I believe she wants to talk to you about Master Richard."

Bruce resisted the urge to groan and bash his head on the keyboard in front of him. Selina would _not _be happy about all of this, and about how Bruce had kept her out of everything. He let out a sigh and stood up. They would talk upstairs; hopefully that would prevent any violence. Maybe.

* * *

So, next chappy is Selina telling Bruce about stuff. Sorry, this chapter was a bit boring. But, Bruce needs to find this stuff out, so it was necessary.

Remember, no chapter next week!

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	26. Hell Hath No Fury like Women Scorned

So, I'm back from vacation! With a new chapter! Hurray!

Ok, so part of this chapter was inspired by a realization that HOLY SHOOT I DON'T HAVE BABS IN HERE. SHE WAS IN LIKE 2 CHAPTERS OF REUNITING BUT SHE'S NOT IN DIVIDED. WHAT IS THIS WHAT AM I DOING OHMIGOD.

Right. After the minor freak-out above, I decided to make sure I added her now. Problem solved.

Hope you enjoy! Oh, and if you can't tell by the end, we are definitely approaching the end now. I really want to work in another chapter with Jason, or Dick on a trapeze (although I feel like I've already overused that one) or Dick getting a concussion just so I can piss Slade off some more, but other than that, I think I'm going to go for the end. Sob. Last chance for any requests!

DISCLAIMER: Blah blah blah yawn.

* * *

Full title of chapter: Hell Hath No Fury like a Woman Scorned... or Uninformed about a Certain Bird's Kidnapping.

* * *

Selina Kyle was a bit ticked off with Batman. According to him, Dick's kidnapping had been an ordinary, run-of-the-mill kidnapping of the billionaire's son. He had not mentioned anything about a notorious super villain who was definitely not good news. Nor had he mentioned the fact that Dick was apparently on such good terms with said villain that he would willingly work with the guy and use a gun for him. The gun thing was what really bothered her. The fact that not only did Dick use the gun, but actually had the skills to fire it and hit whatever he was aiming at told her that this had been going on for a good long while. Longer, perhaps, than even Bruce knew. She may have acted like she knew what was going on when she was talking with Dick, but she didn't really.

Regardless, she was determined to get some answers now. She may not have been involved before, but she would be now.

There was also one more surprise for Bruce. Before she went to Wayne Manor, Selina had run into one more Bat on the rooftops. Another Bat who, it seemed, knew just about as much as Selina herself did about what was going on. So, instead of one angry female, Bruce now had two on his hands. And one was a redhead who had practically grown up with Dick. Selina wasn't quite sure how Bruce had managed to keep Barbara from finding out about what was going on, but she was fairly sure he was going to regret it now.

Bruce may be able to face the worst of the worst of Gotham dressed up like a bat, but against two worried, angry females? Not a chance.

* * *

Bruce was met partway up that stairs by Alfred who had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "They are waiting upstairs, Master Bruce." He said solemnly. Bruce nodded, started walking up, and then paused. "They?" He asked, to the empty air. Alfred had disappeared, although no doubt he would be watching the action from a safe vantage point.

Bruce had a sudden, horrible feeling. This was not going to be good. Tim was nowhere to be found and he had an angry sorta-girlfriend upstairs with someone else now. He took a deep breath and began walking up the stairs again. No sense in putting off the inevitable.

He tried to plan out what he would say. That plan quickly ended once he realized that he had no idea what Selina and her friend knew, what she'd found out, and what they wanted to talk about.

He'd tried to keep this issue relatively quiet, keeping the knowledge to the League and the Titans- and Tim, of course. They were the only ones who knew the details. Everyone else who needed to be informed believed that this was just another relatively normal kidnapping, when really it was anything but. He wasn't sure how Selina had found out about that- actually, he wasn't sure she'd found out anything at all. Alfred had only said that she wanted to talk about Dick. Maybe she just wanted to talk about what he'd been doing for the past three years when he had been missing.

Deep down, he knew he was fooling himself with that line of thought. Finally, he reached the door of the living room where Selina and her friend were waiting. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked inside. He froze when he saw both Selina and Barbara, together, with identical expressions of irritation. He gulped.

He was screwed.

* * *

Selina and Barbara had been waiting for about ten minutes before Bruce arrived. His expression when he walked in, however, was worth every second of waiting.

"Hello, Bruce." Selina purred from her perch on the couch.

"We've got some things to ask you." Barbara smiled, deadly sharp. "We'd like to know what _really _happened to Dick."

"And don't even think about denying it." Selina added. "We know something's fishy here. Tell us what we want to know and we'll tell you how we found out."

They both stared at Bruce. They were smiling and relaxed. They weren't yelling or lecturing or preparing to beat Bruce up. They were completely terrifying, because Bruce knew that any second now they would erupt.

He cursed Alfred for his uncanny sense of when to get the heck out of the room. Bruce was all alone, with no other options than to give in and tell the two women the truth, which would no doubt elicit some form of retribution for keeping it from them.

So, he sat down and explained everything. He told them about the little hints while Dick was at Titans Tower or the Manor, he told them about the actual kidnapping, and the search afterwords and the letters and files. He told them about that one meeting with Slade in the warehouse, and finally he told them about what had happened with Tim and the Joker.

Once he stopped talking, the women exchanged looks, and then turned and glared at Bruce.

"How," Barbara started, "could you keep this from us?!"

"Really, Bruce." Selina scolded. "Didn't you think that we could help? I mean, I do have contacts."

"And we could have helped with the search!" Barbara exclaimed. "I know Dick better than anyone, I would pick up clues even you missed."

"I was trying to keep this quiet." Bruce growled. "Can you imagine what would happen if word got out? The first Robin, poster-boy for the good side, a role model, turning dark?"

Barbara blinked. "Is it really that serious?"

Selina nodded before Bruce could respond. "He seemed pretty comfortable with that gun." She noted. "And he didn't seem to mind chatting in front of Slade."

Bruce's gaze snapped up to her. "What?" He asked. Selina leaned back and smirked at him.

"Oh, didn't I mention?" She said innocently. "I met him on the rooftops after that whole Joker thing, before they left the city."

She wished she had a camera. Bruce's face at that moment was hilarious.

"Tell me _everything_." He ordered. Selina did. Once she was done, Bruce leaned back and thought. "Did he mention anything that might lead us to him?" He asked. Selina thought and then nodded slowly. "He did talk about Metropolis a lot." She mused. "That's all I got."

Bruce blinked, thought, and felt tempted to face-palm. _Of course _it was going to be Metropolis, the one city that did not currently have heroes crawling all over it because Superman had been helping him everywhere else.

Barbara saw his expression and smirked. "You did something stupid didn't you? Maybe you should have told us about this earlier, since we seem to have solved everything in about a minute."

Bruce could only nod.

* * *

And done! Lets see... still on the short-ish side, but I've been working on a new one-shot as well, so I've been dividing my time. Oh well. I don't really have anything else to say here, other than the obligatory

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	27. Headaches and Concussions

I am so, so, so sorry that this took so long. I must guiltily confess that working on my new oneshot kinda took all of my attention and I didn't even look at this for a few days. Sorry. On the other hand, go check out the one shot! It's about the team playing Apples to Apples, 'cause that game's awesome. It's called That Crazy Game in the YJ section.

Back to this story.

Ok, so overwhelmingly people wanted to see Dick with a concussion. So, here's Dick with a concussion! Sorry if it disappoints.

DISCLAIMER: See all previous chapters. It hasn't changed.

* * *

In Slade's opinion, they were lucky to finally get home without any more trouble, something he was very glad about. It had been an far too long day. He was looking forward to picking the brains of his apprentice after the revelation of his identity- well, one of them, anyway. In any case, he was curious about how the first Robin had ended up in Jump City as Nightwing, far away from Daddy-Bats, and they hadn't really talked about much of anything yet relating to the revelation, other than the basics.

As soon as they got back to the base, Renegade disappeared to change out of the uniform. Slade followed his example. They both met back in the living room. Slade was sitting on the couch composing a list of questions in his head. Renegade hesitated by the door but finally sighed and sat on the couch next to him. He looked at Slade resignedly. He knew what was coming. Sure enough, Slade began asking him questions about his past.

"So, you were the original Robin, Red-X was the second."

"Yes. Didn't we go through that already?"

"Just making sure. So, how did the original Robin end up in Jump, so far away from Gotham?"

Renegade sighed. Of course Slade started with one of the most difficult questions. He hesitated for a moment, wondering how much to tell him. Finally, he resigned himself to his fate and answered the question.

"We were growing apart." He said softly. Slade immediately interpreted 'we' as Renegade and Batman. "We were having differences of opinion… I didn't agree with some of his methods. Eventually, it just got so to be so much… I couldn't take it anymore. I was going to go insane if I stayed there any longer. So I left. I didn't want Batman to drag me bag to Gotham, so I didn't tell him. I didn't tell him where I was going or when. I changed my superhero ID to Nightwing and didn't use my civilian one. I became a hero full time. I separated the Titans from the League because I knew that if we had close contact someone would figure it out- Wonder Woman did as soon as she saw me that day. That's why I gained a reputation of hating the League, when really it was the complete opposite. I missed them all a lot, but I couldn't tell any of them because if I did they would tell Batman."

Slade was silent for a moment, processing what he had just learned. "That explains the League." He said, "but what about that team of heroes?"

Renegade shrugged and grinned. "I was one of the founding members of that team." He said proudly. "Young Justice. Aqualad, Kid Flash and I created it after we rescued Supeboy from Cadmus. Miss Martian joined after that, Artemis a few missions later. Zatanna joined after her father… well, she joined the team after a particular mission. We were like family…. I missed them most of all. Zatanna was the only one I had any contact with, but she still didn't know where or who I was."

"And when you brought them to the Tower they found out…"

"I told Artemis in the warehouse to make her trust us. Miss Martian figured it out and told Aqualad and Superboy. Zatanna figured it out when I gave her a replacement for the communicator we'd been using to keep in contact with each other, and we made Kid Flash suffer for a while before we told him."

"Why did the League get involved?"

"The team was a subset of the League, not to mention most of the team were the protégées of League members. So when the bioship was registered in Jump and none of the Team would answer their communicators- because they'd been destroyed by your robots, so thanks for that- they came to Jump to make sure everyone was ok. Like I said, Wonder Woman recognized me, and the rest is history."

Slade nodded. "Hm. Batman asked you to return with him to Gotham?"

"Not in so many words, but I knew he wanted me to. I wanted to too. I missed Gotham, as weird as that may seem. Before you even ask, no, I won't tell you who he is, no, I won't tell you who anyone else is, and no, I will not tell you any League secrets. Period."

Slade grimaced, but knew that he should have expected that. Renegade may trust him and be willing to work with him, but he was still loyal to the heroes. "Fine." He said, getting up. "Well, I'm sure I'll have some more questions later, but for now, how about a spar?"

Renegade grinned. "Sure."

* * *

Of course, not even a spar could be simple anymore. They had been working for an hour, hitting and dodging and kicking and, well, enjoying themselves, when Slade landed a lucky hit. Unfortunately, said lucky hit was a bit more powerful than it should have been for a spar, and Renegade was sent flying and hit his head on the wall. Normally, that wouldn't be much of an issue, but when Renegade got up he started swearing. At least, Slade assumed he was swearing because of his tone, but he wasn't sure because it was in a different language, that damn language that no one would explain to him.

Renegade didn't seem to want to stop swearing to explain though.

Finally, he seemed to lose steam and stopped swearing. He glared at Slade and snapped something, still speaking in that language.

"I have no idea what you just said, since you refuse to tell me what language that is." Slade informed him. Renegade blinked and looked confused for a moment. He said tentatively said something, looking at Slade with an eyebrow raised. Slade shook his head.

Renegade groaned and started going through his list of explicatives again.

* * *

Jason supposed that it was too much to hope that he would be left alone for once.

Almost as soon as he'd left Gotham and returned to his home in Jump, Slade had showed up. Terrific.

"What do you want?" Jason snapped, pushing past him to slump on the couch. "Jeez, I'm pretty sure Goldie promised that I _wouldn't _need to be involved in all of this…"

Slade shrugged. "I am not aware of his promises, nor am I obligated to honor them." He drawled, "but I am in need of your help."

Jason looked at him and groaned. "What did Goldie do now?"

* * *

Slade and Jason returned to find Renegade and Wintergreen in the kitchen. As they entered, Wintergreen asked Renegade something about dinner, and Renegade wrote out a reply on a sheet of paper next to him and handed it to the man. Slade stared. Renegade had kept trying to talk to him in that language for almost half an hour before Slade had finally given up and gone to get Jason, since he could speak the language.

"Why didn't you just do that with me?" Slade demanded. Renegade shrugged and smirked.

"He told me it was more fun to tease you." Wintergreen said with a slight smile. "Apparently, he's a bit of a prankster." Renegade nodded solemnly. _Sure you know what you're getting in to? _He wrote.

Slade huffed and turned towards Jason. "He hit his head and has a concussion. We need you to translate."

Jason shrugged and sat down next to Renegade. He said something to him in whatever language they were using, and Renegade responded in kind, glancing towards Slade and laughing a little. Soon, the two were deep in a conversation Slade really wished he could understand.

Looking up, he met Wintergreen's laughing eyes. "Are you sure that helped us, or did it just make it worse?" He asked the irate villain. Slade just scowled.

* * *

Jason and Dick talked about a lot of nothing for a while, but finally Jason turned serious. He glanced over at Slade and Wintergreen who were conducting their own conversation before he turned back to Dick.

_"You need to make a decision." _He said. _"Batsy and all of them are getting close."_

_"How long until they find us?" _Renegade asked. He needed to know how much time he had, to think, to plan, to decide.

_"A week, maybe less. You need to figure out what you're going to do. Are you going to stay with Slade, or are you going to go back to the heroes?"_

Renegade didn't have an answer.

* * *

Two days later, Slade was conducting another lesson on robotics. He was coaching Renegade through something that he already knew, but Slade didn't know that. Renegade still hadn't told him everything about his abilities.

Slade kept repeating the instructions, and it was seriously ticking Renegade off. He _knew _how to do this, but Slade wouldn't stop trying to teach him.

"I know, Slade." He snapped, after the villain tried to repeat it yet again. He was shocked when Slade actually stopped talking. Mentally, he ran through what had just happened.

"Oh, thank god." Jason muttered from where he had been leaning on the wall. "It's about _time, _Goldie. Can I leave now that he can speak English again?"

Slade nodded absently and Jason left, muttering under his breath about annoying heroes and villains who _would not leave him alone_. Slade waited a few moments before restarting the lesson.

Later, Renegade laid back on his bed and wondered about what he would choose when the League found him. Maybe it was time to have a serious conversation with Slade.

* * *

Yeah, it's a bit choppy, but whatevs.

So, seriously now, we're winding down. The story is actually going to end soon-ish. I don't actually have it planned, so I'm not sure how many more chapters, but we're on the home stretch people. Get ready.

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	28. Talks, thoughts, and not-so-smart plans

*Slinks nervously into room* Um. Hi. Uh. It's been a while. Sorry. My life's been crazy lately, and then I went and watched Endgame and deleted half of what I had written so I could re-write it to include Wally, because I refuse to acknowledge what happened to him and needed him to be in this chapter. So, I sat down and wrote this in like an hour. I was totally not listening to the song Renegade by Daughtry while I was writing. Nope, not at all.

So, yeah. But it's done now!

Yeah... I have nothing else to say. Happy reading!

DISCLAIMER: If you haven't gotten the picture by now, what is wrong with your brain?

* * *

Wintergreen was cooking dinner when he heard the boy come in. Slade was sitting at the table near him, papers spread all around. The two men were trying to figure out when and where to have yet another meeting with yet another random villain. Wintergreen knew that Slade really didn't have to g to all these meetings, but he also knew that Slade viewed it as a good way to begin introducing Renegade to the villain world. The conversation stopped, however, when Renegade sat down with them.

"We need to talk." He said quietly. Slade and Wintergreen exchanged looks. "What about?" Wintergreen asked hesitantly. He honestly had no idea what could have brought this on. Nothing really exciting had happened for the past few days, other than Red-X's visit.

Renegade leaned his chair back on two legs and sighed. "I just…. what's going to happen, after this is all done?" He asked vaguely.

"What do you mean?" Slade was beginning to get a little concerned.

Renegade huffed, frustrated. "When this game is done. When you beat the heroes or when the heroes beat you. This isn't going to go on forever, Slade, and I don't know what I want right now."

Slade blinked. "What brought this on?" He was seriously worried now. This was the sort of conversation that could lead to Renegade drifting away from him. Everything had been going so well up to then. This conversation was just one more test, one more way to solidify his position with Renegade- or one more way to mess it all up.

"Answer the question Slade." Renegade said shortly. This was serious, and he didn't want Slade stalling.

Slade sighed. "I'm not sure." He admitted. "Ideally, we become… similar to partners. I know better than to expect you to always work under me, like an apprentice. I was thinking that we would work together most of the time, but I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to go solo a little."

Renegade blinked, looking slightly surprise. "Would you expect me to become an assassin?"

Slade hesitated. "… I would like that, yes." He admitted. "But our deal still stands. I will not force you to use a gun in the field."

Renegade nodded slowly. He stood up. "I need to go think." He said quietly. Slade and Wintergreen watched as he left the room.

Wintergreen took a deep breath. Somehow, he knew that this would all be over soon, and he suspected that Renegade knew that too. Up until then, Renegade had held off from making a real decision about his situation, or even really thinking about it. But now, he was getting ready to make his final decision. No matter what he chose, everyone would be affected. Wintergreen only hoped that he chose well.

* * *

Dick had retreated to the acrobatics room after his discussion with Slade. He needed to think, and there was no better place to than in the air. It had been his method for years.

He knew he had to make a decision, but for the life of him he just couldn't figure this out. He loved his hero family, and the last thing that he wanted to do was disappoint or hurt Bruce. But on the other hand, he was genuinely growing to like his life with Slade and Wintergreen.

The heroes were getting close. He needed to make a decision… but he didn't think that he could.

God, he needed a trapeze. It always helped him think.

He steadfastly ignored the little voice in the back of his mind saying that he would have to tell Slade who he was eventually if he was going to work with him, and that if he was going to stay, he would need a trapeze.

He knew that Slade was planning another meeting with another villain. Maybe it would help him make a decision. Hopefully.

* * *

Wally West was excited. Finally, finally, they were going to do something to save Dick. They knew that he was in Metropolis, so the League was finally sending in someone to search. Discretely, of course, since they didn't want to tip Slade off that they were getting close. Which meant that they were only going to send in a few people that wouldn't be noticed easily, i.e., not someone like Bruce Wayne or Oliver Queen. Someone like Wally West and Barbara Gordon, two old friends hanging out while their dads were at various meetings and conventions. And man, was he psyched.

Finally, he would _really _be a part of the search for his bro.

At the moment, he and Barbara were meeting up in the park. They were going to walk around the city, acting like two kids on holiday -which they kinda were- and see if they could try to find any hint of Dick.

Deep down, he knew that no one really expected them to find anything. After all, how stupid would Slade have to be to bring Dick right into the center of a city like Metropolis?

* * *

"We're meeting some guy in the middle of Metropolis?" Renegade said incredulously. "The middle. Of Metropolis. When Superman may or may not be there. The two of us. When everyone under the sun is looking for us. Seriously?"

"Yes, Renegade." Slade sighed. "The man I'm meeting refused to meet anywhere else. He doesn't really trust me-"

"Wonder why." Renegade muttered.

"- so he insisted on meeting somewhere public. I've been keeping an eye out, don't worry. Superman hasn't been sighted for ages, and no other heroes have approached Metropolis. We'll be fine."

Renegade shook his head. Just because Superman wasn't in the city didn't mean that Clark Kent or some other hero wasn't. This was risky, incredibly risky.

The little voice in the back of his head spoke up again, saying that wanted criminals had to go through that whenever they went anywhere. This was just practice for the future.

Renegade was getting a bit sick of that voice, especially since it seemed to be getting stronger by the hour.

* * *

Wally West and Barbara Gordon walked around the city, looking for their best friend/brother. Unfortunately, they wouldn't have much luck. Finally, after hours, they returned to the park, discouraged and disappointed but not surprised. After all, Slade was smart; he wouldn't be out in the city where anyone could find him. They weren't due to be back for about an hour, but they were done looking.

"Look, why don't we just hang out in the park for a while." Wally suggested. "It's not like we're going to find anything. Plus, we can get a hotdog or something."

"Fine." Barbara sighed. "God forbid we withhold food from you for an hour."

Wally grinned unashamedly. He couldn't help his stomach.

* * *

At the same time, Slade and Renegade entered the city proper.

"So, where in the city are we meeting this guy?" Renegade asked.

"The park." Slade replied. "Public, lots of people around, yet there's places private enough that no one will look twice at a group of people having a chat."

Renegade shook his head. "On the other hand, anyone could be there. Someone might recognize you. Or me."

"No one knows me in Metopolis." Slade replied. "And why would anyone recognize you?"

Renegade didn't answer. Inside, he was laughing hysterically. Who _wouldn't _recognize him? Everyone knew him as Clark Kent's 'nephew'. He was bound to be recognized by _someone_.

Or, you know, Wally and Barbara, who were at that moment enjoying some hotdogs at a picnic table close to where the meeting was to occur.

Fate's funny like that. As soon as you stop looking, likely as not you find exactly what you're looking for.

* * *

Aaaand fin. Short, I know. But I wanted to get something posted for you all. So, I sat down and wrote this in like an hour. I was totally not listening to the song Renegade by Daughtry while I was writing and snickering to myself. Nope, not at all.

I'm going to give a tentative estimate of 2-3 more chapters, with an epilogue or two. IDK. I'm not really sure what's going to happen now, but I'll figure it out.

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	29. The End of the Search

Right. Chapter 29! Wow, never thought this story would be this long, although this chapter is short-ish... anyway. Not too much happens in this chapter, but hopefully next one will be a bit more exciting. I really just want to post this, so I'm not going to write much up here. Happy reading!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing

* * *

It was a seemingly ordinary day in a seemingly ordinary park. Children were running around like lunatics, mothers were gossiping, and fathers were trying to look like they were paying attention to what their wives were saying. Two young redheads were sitting at a picnic table enjoying some hotdogs near where a vaguely shifty-looking man was sitting. Two men entered the park not far away from this area, a young man and a man who could be mistaken for his father, although they weren't related. No one in the park knew just how important the rest of the evening was going to be.

Wally and Barbara had lost all hope of finding Dick that day. They were just putting of the inevitable at that point, trying to stall as long as they could so they didn't have to inform a worried father that his son was still missing. Neither of them were looking forward to that task.

Wally was demolishing his last hotdog when Barbara spoke up. "Guess we should call B, tell him that we didn't find anything." She said quietly. Wally paused in his eating. "We can do another quick round of the city." He suggested. "Maybe we'll find something."

"No, we won't." Barbara blinked back tears. "We won't find anything. It's been so long… I'm starting to think we never will."

It had been almost three and a half month since Nightwing was kidnapped. Three and a half agonizingly long months.

Wally sighed, but didn't contradict Barbara. He would never lose hope, but the search was losing steam. They needed a breakthrough, soon.

The two sat in silence for a little. Out of the corner of his eye, Wally saw two men wearing sunglasses approach the shifty-looking man. The elder of the two newcomers shook hands with the man. They spoke lowly for a moment and then the elder man turned to his younger companion and told him something that resulted in the young man moving to a bench a little distance away as the two men resumed talking.

Barbara, facing Wally across the table, had a better view of the two. She narrowed her eyes at the younger man. Something seemed familiar about him. She noticed him looking around the park, observing his surroundings. His gaze lit on their table for a fraction of a second before he moved on. She noticed him studiously avoiding looking at their table in the minutes that followed, although he continued sweeping the park.

"Wally." She whispered. "Get up and throw your trash out."

Wally blinked at her. "Babs?"

"I want you to look at that man behind you without drawing attention to yourself." She hissed. "As in, _not _turning around and gaping."

Wally did as he was told, getting a better look at the young man as he deposited the hot dog wrappings in the trash can. "He does look familiar." He murmured when he returned to the table. "But the man he came in with doesn't."

"No." Barbara agreed. She glanced up for a second to see the young man looking at them. He looked away after a few moments. Barbara noticed that the man he came with had glanced at the younger man at almost the same time, like he was checking up on him. Barbara's eyes narrowed. The younger man was obviously interested in them, but didn't want to draw the other's attention to them. She voiced her thoughts to Wally. He shrugged.

"Maybe he's lonely?" He suggested, not really believing that. There was something about the young man…

Barbara noticed him looking at them yet again. He seemed slightly exasperated. Wally and Barbara's eyes widened at the young man began to whistle a familiar tune. A tune only one person knew.

"Dick." She whispered.

* * *

Dick figured that it was _just his damn luck _that Wally and Barbara were in the park at the same time that he and Slade arrived. He also figured that if his luck held, he would be recognized soon enough. As he continued his routine sweep of the park, he tried desperately to avoid looking at the two of them while making it seem like he wasn't actively trying to. Slade was watching him, even if it didn't seem like it, and Dick didn't want to tip him off.

He snuck another glance at his friends. He saw them glancing at each other and whispering together and Wally's not-very-subtle attempt to get a good look at him. He hoped Slade wouldn't notice anything about them. Spending so much time with Slade made Dick realize how the heroes really weren't good at sneaking around in the shadows, especially when they weren't in costume.

Dick knew they were suspicious, but amazingly they hadn't recognized him yet. Now, he wasn't sure if they would. He had changed a lot; sometimes he didn't even recognize himself. The question was, did he want them to recognize him?

He let out a deep breath and looked closely at his friends. He blinked and narrowed his eyes slightly. They looked… bad. They both had dark circles under their eyes and both looked pale and tired. They were both obviously worried and depressed. Dick could only imagine that that was because of him. He knew how seriously the heroes were taking the search, but he hadn't realized what a toll it was taking on his friends.

That was all he needed to realize. He couldn't put his friends and family through that kind of pain for any longer than he already had, no matter what he wanted. Ultimately, they would be hurt more if he turned his back on them than Slade would be. At least if he was a hero, he didn't have to fight against Slade if he didn't want to. If he sided with Slade, he would have to fight his family. It wouldn't be possible not to; all of the heroes were a part of his family. And villains had to fight heroes.

Now, the question was how to get their attention without tipping Slade off that he knew them. He started to casually whistle a tune while he thought. He noticed Slade glancing at him and then turning back to his meeting. Obviously, he didn't see whistling as anything harmful. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Barbara and Wally stiffen and look at him again. He paused his whistling in surprise, running through the last few moments in his head to figure out what could have resulted in that reaction. He started whistling again as he thought.

He blinked. Oh. Right. He was whistling the tune of an old Romani song his mom had taught him. Only a few of his friends could recognize the tune, which was why he didn't really think about whistling it near anyone. Of course, Barbara and Wally were two of the few people who would always recognize the tune.

Well. It looked like he wouldn't have to think too hard after all.

* * *

Barbara couldn't believe it. An entire day of combing the city and Dick just turned up chilling in the park when he was supposed to be a prisoner somewhere. It was so very _him_.

Hands shaking, her gaze never leaving Dick, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Bruce. He picked up almost immediately.

"What is it?" He asked. He hadn't expected Barbara to call again; she had already called him about half an hour ago when their search had born no frut and they decided to take a break in the park.

"He's here, Bruce." She whispered, not able to bring herself to speak louder. "I'm staring right at him. _We found Dick."_

She heard a clatter as Bruce dropped the phone. He quickly picked it up again, asking "where" is a voice shaking with emotion. Barbara told him where they were and she could hear him relaying the information to Clark.

"Clark will be there in two minutes." Bruce told her. "He'll tail them, but get a tracker on them if you can- _without _tipping Slade off. Call me if Dick moves before he gets there." He then hung up, no doubt to make more plans.

She looked up from the table and saw Dick looking straight at her with a small smile. He nodded minutely before returning to ignoring them. Apparently, he didn't want to tip Slade off either. Wally was vibrating with excitement and Barbara could feel tears coming to her eyes.

They had finally found him.

Soon, he would be home.

* * *

So, there heroes are now going to try and stage a rescue. Yay! And yeah, Dick pretty much chose the heroes. Hope you all like the reason. Sorry if it's sappy.

REVIEW! Please.


	30. The Rescue Part I

This is the beginning of the end, people. I totally intended for this chapter to be the entire rescue, but then it got long so it's just the beginning. Hope you guys can wait a bit longer.

I am now going to indulge in a plea for help. I want to have some awesome fight between Slade and Batman, but I suck at action scenes. I'm not a violent person, so I have trouble writing violence. So... help?

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"Everybody know what they're doing?" Batman barked. They had been going over the plan for almost an hour now, but he wanted to know that everyone had everything down pat. No one objected, either. Everyone knew how important this was. Everyone knew what was riding on this mission- and no one wanted to fail.

They were going to bring Nightwing home.

* * *

Bruce sent Clark to Metropolis immediately when Barbara called him. He then proceeded to bang his head against the Batcomputer. How could he have overlooked Metropolis? He hadn't been certain that Selina's idea would be correct, but now that it had been proven he couldn't believe that he hadn't realized that no one had covered the city since Superman had been with him the whole time coordinating. It was a grievous oversight, one that had cost him months with his son.

Once he was done berating himself, Bruce hacked into the security cameras in the park. He quickly scanned them for any sign of Dick. Two redheads caught his eye and he slowly scanned the area around them, searching for his son. He caught his breath when he saw him. Dick looked well, he was healthy and obviously hadn't been mistreated. Bruce relaxed a little. Dick was leaning against a park bench, his lips pursed together in a way that meant that he was whistling. He was tossing what looking like a spalding ball from hand to hand, occasionally glancing at Wally and Barbara or a group of two men conversing at a nearby park bench. Bruce zoomed in on the two and growled; one was obviously Slade.

Bruce heard footsteps coming down the staircase into the Batcave and quickly zoomed in on Dick instead of Slade. He heard Alfred and Tim chatting as they came down, and smirked at the stunned silence that fell over the cave once they noticed what he was looking at. Tim was instantly at his side.

"Is that Dick?" He asked excitedly. "Where is he? When was that?"

"Metropolis." Bruce answered, not able to hide the happiness and excitement in his voice. "And it's live."

Tim gasped. "So we found him." He said in disbelief. "Actually found him. No more tricks."

"No more tricks." Bruce confirmed. "Clark will be following them discretely as soon as they leave and Barbara will have a tracker on their car. It's almost over."

Tim grinned brightly. "Can I come when you go to rescue him?"

Bruce glanced at him slowly. He didn't really want to let him, but… "sure." Bruce finally said. He couldn't deny the boy a chance to help his brother. Plus, everyone would probably want to be a part of the rescue. He couldn't stop Tim from going if everyone else was.

He reluctantly closed the camera view. "C'mon, Tim. We should start planning."

* * *

Batman watched grimly as everyone assembled themselves into the teams he'd decided on and moved out. Most of them would be look outs, both to make sure that Slade and Dick were actually in the base and to prevent either of them from getting away. Only a fairly small team would actually be entering the hideout. This wasn't going to be a long, drawn out, dramatic rescue- they would be going in and getting Dick out, hopefully punching Slade a few times in the process. Dick, however, was the priority.

Batman didn't react as a hand touched his shoulder. "Are you all right?" Superman asked quietly. "I can only imagine the toll this is taking on you." There was still a possibility of this failing, after all, and he knew that Batman would be running through every scenario in his head, trying and failing not to get his hopes up.

"I…I'm fine." Batman said tersely. "I'll be better when we get Dick back." When. Not if. They were going to get Dick back, no matter what Batman had to do.

Superman managed a small smile. "C'mon Bruce." He took a few steps forward. "Lets go rescue Dick."

Batman nodded and moved forward confidently. It was time to rescue his son.

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIO

Batman, Superman, the Titans, and the Team were the only ones to actually enter the base. The two young teams weren't to come in contact with Slade; they were mainly there to take care of any Sladebots or other help there may be. Batman and Superman would be taking care of Slade. Hopefully, on of the two groups would find Dick before Slade spirited him away again.

Batman took a deep breath and nodded towards Aqualad and Raven, the respective leaders of the two younger teams. They nodded back and cautiously moved into the building. They would split into pairs and patrol the halls, using Megan's mind-link to keep in contact. Superman and Batman were linked in too, but

they were mostly blocking out the teens' chatter. They would only reintegrate themselves into the link if they found someone or something.

At the moment, they were sneaking around the hallways, looking for the main rooms or a person. So far, the base seemed deserted. Raven, however, assured them that Dick was, in fact, in the base. Superman couldn't confirm, of course, since Slade was not an idiot and had his base lined with lead.

_"Hey, I recognize this!" _Beast Boy crowed over the link. _"Remember, Titans? This is the same way the training rooms were organized in that other base of Slade's."_

_"Do you think they're based off each other?" _Wally asked. Maybe they could use that to help them maneuver.

_"Maybe." _Raven allowed. _"Lets not bother Batman yet. Whenever anyone notices a bunch of rooms together, tell the rest of us."_

Sure enough, a few hallways and rooms later, they had seen enough to conclude that the base was, in fact, identical to the other one they'd explored. Finally, Raven got Batman's attention over the link and informed him of their conclusion. She then gave him instructions as to where the kitchen and bedrooms should be based on his position. With that information, they quickly found their way to the main area of the base- and soon heard voices.

Batman and Superman exchanged looks.

_"We found them." _Superman said through the link. Immediately, he was overwhelmed by a cacophony of voices and exclamations.

"_Quiet!" _Batman barked. _"We can't afford to make any more mistakes. Keep watch- make sure he doesn't get away again."_

_"Dick or Slade?" _Artemis muttered. Everyone ignored her- they all knew he meant both.

Batman and Superman immediately tuned them out again. Batman indicated that Superman should stay put and moved forward to see what was going on in the room where he heard voices. He made sure to stay out of sight, obviously.

The room he was looking into was obviously a training room. It was in use, by a mask less Slade and a sunglassed Dick. Batman froze, barely breathing as he stared at his son.

He and Slade were sparring in the middle of the room, both physically and verbally. They were exchanging barbed comments and sharp retorts, exchanging blows at the same time. Batman could see that they were comfortable with each other, enough so that they could fight each other without much thought, and so could concentrate on the conversation portion of the fight. It reminded Batman of when he and Dick used to spar like that.

As he watched, the two finished their spar, Slade declaring it a draw. Dick laughed.

"Please." He teased. "A few more minutes and I would have had you."

Slade raised a skeptic eyebrow. "I'm sure." He drawled. "You are excellent, yes, but not yet good enough to beat me."

Dick raised an eyebrow right back. "Someone has an overinflated ego." He rolled his eyes and grabbed a water bottle off a nearby bench. "Got any meetings today?"

"No, thank goodness." Slade sighed. "Mindless idiots, the lot of them. Why don't you add that to your list of reasons- you can actually provide some intelligent conversation at times."

Dick rolled his eyes again. "Glad that I'm keeping you amused. I'm going to go grab a snack. You want anything?"

"No. If you run into Wintergreen on your way, ask him to go to the supermarket soon. We're running out of food."

"Sure." Dick agreed, heading towards the doorway where Batman was lurking. As he reached the door, he paused for a moment, feeling his mentor's presence. His eyes searched the hall until he found Batman in the shadows. Dick met his eyes for a moment before turning and heading down the hallway to the kitchen. His message couldn't be clearer- he wasn't going to interfere, but nor was he going to help.

Batman waited a moment before stepping into the room.

"Hello, Slade."

* * *

Bats is pissed :)

So, please help me figure out this fight scene thing for next chapter. I don't want to have to gloss over it, but I might have to. Thanks!

Review!


	31. The Rescue Part II

OK, people, this is it; the last chapter of the main storyline. From here on out, it'll be non-sequential epilogue-y things, of varying length depicting various events. I'm open to requests, but on my list so far are:

1) Damian meeting Bruce. Duh. It has to happen. I can't end this and not show that.

2) Dick rejoining the Titans. See above comments.

3) Something with Dick and Slade meeting up again after Slade escapes/ breaks out.

4) Dick telling Slade his ID. May or may not be combined with the above.

Um... those are my only definites right now, but I'm definitely open to adding some more.

I just want to respond to a review here. Fanficfantasies, wow I should have done an in-chapter reply before. It completely escaped my mind, sorry. Anyway, thanks for the help, and thanks for reviewing, like, every chapter :) Hope you think the chapter came out ok. And thanks for reminding me of Wintergreen. I, kinda, um, forgot about him for a while. Oops. Remedied that here though.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! Fight scene totally sucks, I don't even know what it is, and I totally gloss over pretty much the whole thing. Oh well. I know it sucks.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

* * *

Slade whirled around. His eye widened, momentarily caught off guard. He caught himself quickly.

"Hello, Batman." He replied smoothly. Inside, he was swearing. How had Batman found him so quickly? And how hadn't he known about it?

He couldn't let his thoughts show though. He knew this was probably going to be the final battle, and he couldn't let any weakness show.

The two stared at each other for a few moments. Neither wanted to make the first move, but eventually Batman's desire to get back his son outweighed his inclination to let Slade make the first move.

"What did you do to Nightwing?" Batman asked lowly. The way the two of them had been interacting… he almost wanted to believe that it was brainwashing, but based on everything he'd heard he wasn't sure.

Slade raised an eyebrow. "Nothing." He smirked. "True, I brought him here, but he's stayed of his own accord." Slade was starting to enjoy this. He held all the cards, after all.

Batman narrowed his eyes. "Be that as it may, he's coming home now." He didn't care what he had to do, Dick was coming home.

Slade disagreed. "I believe that he's where he belongs now. Your little bird's flown the coop, Batman. He's mine now."

Batman growled. "We'll see about that." The tension broke as he made the first move.

The fight had begun- or rather continued. After all, hadn't they been fighting over Nightwing the entire time?

* * *

Dick-Renegade-Nightwing let out a breath as he watched his two mentors fight. They were both master fighters, exchanging blows and dodging and attacking each other mercilessly. They were giving this fight their all, and he couldn't- wouldn't- help either of them. To be honest, he was still uncertain as to _who _he wanted to win.

He'd known that there would be a fight as soon as he sensed Batman's presence. That was why he'd left the training room immediately, cutting their sparring short. He didn't want to be anywhere near Slade and Batman as they fought. He couldn't resist not knowing, though, so he went straight to the observational room and brought up the security camera in the training room. This way, he- and the others in the room- could watch without endangering themselves, as he had no doubt that their fight would be destructive.

Speaking of the others in the room….

"You all might as well come out." He said. "All of you. This is a peace zone. Nothing's going to happen until they're done fighting."

There was a pause. He raised an eyebrow and waited patiently.

Wintergreen was the first one to approach him, probably because he actually was supposed to be there. Wintergreen nodded at him before concentrating on the fight. Dick waited a few more moments before he sighed.

"Seriously, I know you're there. Come out here before I make you." He rolled his eyes. Really, did they think he wouldn't notice them?

Miss Martian was the first to emerge from where she had been hiding.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly. "Batman's orders- keep an eye on you while he fights Slade without being seen." The rest of the Team and the Titans surfaced from various hidey-holes and shadows. Dick and Wintergreen rolled their eyes.

"Fat chance of that." Wintergreen muttered. Dick nodded, agreeing. "You guys aren't very subtle. I'm surprised you managed to get in here without alerting us all."

Artemis scowled. "We're not totally incompetent." She muttered. Wally shushed her.

Raven drifted closer to Dick and Wintergreen. "What's going to happen now?" She asked, getting right to the heart of the matter. Dick hesitated, then shrugged. "If Batman wins, I go with you. If Slade wins, you're going to have to fight me if you want to bring me back."

Beast Boy blinked. "Huh?"

Dick sighed. "This is the final fight. It's going to decide who I'm going to go with. I made a deal with Slade- the heroes beat him in a fair fight, I can leave. Slade beats the heroes in a fair fight- I stay with him."

Raven cut the others off from saying anything. "And you?" she asked Wintergreen. The man looked at her. "Slade told me not to interfere. I won't. I'll help him if he wins, disappear if he doesn't- at least, until Slade gets away from you."

Dick rolled his eyes and shushed everyone, turning back to the screen. Everyone took his cue and shut up to watch the fight.

* * *

Punch. Dodge. Kick. Lunge. Dodge. Throw some Batarangs. Kick. Punch.

It was like a dance. Batman could tell why Dick enjoyed fighting against Slade so much; he was an excellent fighter. Batman was giving this fight his all, but he wasn't sure if it would be enough.

Kick. Punch. Duck.

He did have one thing on his side though- he was desperate. He needed to get Dick back. So he would give this fight his all, and more. He wasn't going to give up. And if he did lose this fight, he would find them again. He would keep fighting for Dick.

Attack. Defend.

An opening.

A tiny one, but an opening nonetheless. Slade was just a hint off balance after defending from that last attack. A tiny bit- but a tiny bit Batman could exploit.

He tossed a handful of Batarangs at him, and followed it up with a roundhouse kick. Slade, still off balance from before, couldn't quite manage to regain it in time to dodge the batarangs, putting himself even more off balance. He didn't even see the kick coming.

Batman's boot collided with his face with a _crack._ Slade's eye widened as Batman's kick sent him flying across the room into the wall. Batman waited for a few moments to make sure he wasn't getting back up, before he moved to secure him. As Batman cuffed him, he noticed that the man's mask was cracked in half.

Batman stood up and turned around when he heard footsteps approaching. He found the Team, the Titans, and Superman at the doorway. Superman came into the room to help with Slade, while the two teams hovered near the doorway. Dick took a single step into the room. His eyes were glued to the unconscious villain.

He swallowed. "So it's over then."

Bruce turned to look at him, and the crossed to room to envelop him in a hug.

"It's over." He confirmed. He let Dick go and turned to the teams. "Was anyone else here?"

"One man." Aqualad answered. "He got away."

"I asked them to let him leave." Dick interjected. "He's not a danger- he's a friend."

Batman eyed him skeptically but didn't say anything. He'd just gotten Dick back, he didn't want to start another argument. If Dick said he wasn't a threat, he wasn't a threat.

That didn't mean he wouldn't research this guy when he got back to the Batcave.

For now, though, he was going to focus on his son.

He put an arm around his son and led him out of the building. The two teams walked ahead of them and Clark followed behind with Slade. It was time to leave.

No one noticed the regretful glance that Dick threw towards the hideout while they were leaving. He was glad to be back with his family, yes, but at the same time he couldn't help but mourn what he had just lost.

But right now, he turned around and forced a smile back on his face. He was with his family again. That was all that mattered, even if there was that dark little corner of his heart that regretted how everything turned out.

* * *

Yup. So, Dick's rescued. And he's still kinda conflicted. Poor Dick.

Anyway, epilogue-y things will be posted soon. I'll probably go through the ones on my list first, then go to requests, so if anyone has any requests, you've got some time to ask.

REVIEW!


	32. Damian, Dick, and Bruce

Heya! So, finally got this chapter done. Sorry, I've been really, really busy, so even though I was really excited about this chapter it took me forever to get it on paper. Er, computer? Anyway, I really wanted to write this chapter, so we're jumping forward in time a bit. I will have chapters set before this one, however. They just won't be published in chronological order.

Anyway, here are the requests/ideas I've got so far, in absolutely no particular order:

1)Addie- something, anything with her

2)Alternate ending with Slade winning

3) Nightwing reuniting with Zee

4) Nightwing meeting up with Slade after the rescue, which may or may not be combined with

5) Slade finding out Dick's ID

If there's anything else, please request it!

Now, onto the chapter!

* * *

**Three months after the rescue:**

"Alright, that's it!" Dick huffed. Damian blinked at him.

Dick had visited Damian practically every week after the first month of his return. During that first month, Bruce/the Titans/every hero under the sun were watching him closely. He hardly had a minute to himself, let alone an entire day to get away. As Talia had made him promise not to reveal their location or the fact of Damian's existence before she gave her permission, he had had to wait for everyone to calm down before he could slip away to visit Damian. Once he had the opportunity, however, he visited whenever possible.

The two 'brothers' were taking a break from their acrobatics. Dick was slowly teaching Damian to use the trapeze almost as well as a Flying Grayson could. The boy grumbled and complained and insulted Dick's competence as a teacher, but Dick knew that he secretly loved the lessons. It was routine by now; Dick would arrive, chat with Talia and/or Ra's for a while, and then would disappear with Damian, either to the acrobatics room or to a public outing, then eating dinner with the al Ghuls or rushing out because of some emergency or something. No matter what, though, Dick and Damian would find time to swap stories. Damian would tell Dick of his childhood and training thus far, and Dick would tell Damian about the circus, or his own training, or escapades as Robin/Nightwing. The most popular topic, though, was Damian's father.

Which was what Damian had just asked for. This wasn't an uncommon event; Damian would ask questions about his father whenever they popped into his head. Dick's outburst was unexpected though.

Dick stormed out of the room, leaving Damian sitting, shocked. He could vaguely hear a discussion going on in the room next door where he knew his mother was. He couldn't tell what they were discussing, but Dick was obviously worked up about something. Damian instinctively knew that he wouldn't be welcome in the room while this discussion was going on, so he contented himself to waiting for Dick to return.

Dick came back about twenty minutes later, a wide grin on his face and a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Guess what?" He asked, disgustingly cheerful. He continued without letting Damian get a word in. "Your mom just gave me permission to do something I should've done a long time ago. Lets go!"

He grabbed Damian's wrist and pulled him to the door. As Dick was dragging him out, Damian noticed his mother standing near the exit to the building, looking amused. She nodded at them as they passed. Damian gave her a confused look while Dick just waved. It wasn't until Dick was settling onto his bike in front of Damian that the boy managed to get a question in.

"Where are we going?" He demanded. "What's going on, Grayson?!"

Dick just turned slightly and shot him a blinding smile.

"You'll see. Now hush, or else I won't visit you anymore."

Damian didn't say a word for the rest of the ride.

* * *

Bruce knew that Dick was up to something. He'd been disappearing every so often and wouldn't answer his comm during that time. Bruce hadn't asked about it yet; he didn't want to do anything that might cause an argument. As Dick's behavior continued, however, he started to get a bit worried. The fact that Dick hadn't told him about whatever he was doing willingly was a bad sign. The two of them were trying for no more secrets.

Bruce didn't want to acknowledge the thought, but he was beginning to think that this might be Slade related. As in, Dick _helping _Slade. Which was bad. Bruce wasn't quite ready to believe it yet, but the longer this went on, the more doubts he had.

It was safe to say that he wasn't expecting anything like what was actually going on.

* * *

Dick pulled up to a halt in the darkened Batcave. He was mildly surprised that Damian hadn't commented on, well, anything on the way there. He was sure the scathing comments would start up soon.

Sure enough, as soon as Damian hopped off the bike, the comments started. "Grayson, why have you kidnapped me?" He demanded. "And what is this dump? I demand you answer me, Grayson!"

Dick let out a snicker. He skipped over to the wall and flipped a switch. Damian couldn't stop a gasp from escaping.

"Welcome to the Batcave." Dick said grandly.

Damian gaped. "Wow." He whispered. Then he seemed to recover himself. He crossed his arms. "So, _why _did you drag me to this hole?" He said imperiously. Dick rolled his eyes.

"Why do you think?" He asked. "What have I been promising you the entire time?"

Damian huffed. "Stop playing games and tell me, Grayson."

Dick shook his head mock-disappointedly. "Dami, Dami, Dami. We're in the _Batcave. _Beneath _Wayne M__anor_. Where a certain grumpy, antisocial man fond of dressing up as a bat lives, who happens to share some of your DNA. Again, why do you think I brought you here?"

Damian blinked, eyes wide. "You mean… I'm going to…"

"Master Richard? Is that you?" A voice interrupted them. Dick and Damian turned around to find an elderly man coming down the stairs. The man paused when he saw the young boy standing next to his charge. "Who is this?"

Dick grinned and quickly slipped a pair of sunglasses onto Damian's face before the man could get a good look at his face. "Surprise. Is Bruce home?"

Alfred was surprised by Dick's casual use of Bruce's name in the Batcave in front of this unknown kid. He assumed that Dick told the boy about Bruce being Batman- but why?

He pushed his thoughts away in favor of answering Dick's question. "He's upstairs, getting ready for dinner. May I assume that you and your guest will be joining us for dinner?"

Dick nodded, grinning. "Hopefully for longer than that. Can you set up one of the guest rooms for Little D here?"

"My name is Damian, Grayson!" The boy scowled. "Not 'Little D'. And do I not have a say in whether or not I am going to stay here?"

"Nope." Dick replied cheerfully. "Your mom already gave me permission to make you stay here for a trial week. Of course, if you really don't want to stay here and meet Bruce…"

"NO!" Damian all but shouted. He quickly recovered himself and blushed. "I mean, if Mother expects me to stay here for a few days, I shouldn't disobey her instructions."

Dick smirked, seeing right through Damian's excuse. "Right." He practically skipped to the stairs. When he reached them, he turned back and raised an eyebrow at Damian. "Well? Are you coming or not?"

Damian all but ran to catch up to him. Alfred couldn't resist a smile at their antics. He had a feeling that, whoever he was, this young boy would be changing the Wayne household dramatically.

* * *

Bruce was understandably surprised when he entered the dining room, expecting to have a solitary dinner, and found Dick, who had gone missing again that day, and an unfamiliar boy wearing sunglasses. He blinked, but otherwise didn't show a reaction. He slowly sat down at the table and looked over at his ward.

"Who is this?"

The boy scowled at the table, refusing to look Bruce in the eyes, while Dick grinned mischievously. "This is Damian." He said, not really answering anything. Damian switched his scowl over to Dick. "Stop playing Grayson." He muttered. The boy was obviously nervous.

Dick rolled his eyes. "Fine. Take off your sunglasses then."

Damian blinked at him. He hesitated, but slowly reached up and removed the sunglasses, staring directly at Bruce. Bruce inhaled sharply. He heard a crash from behind him as Alfred dropped the tray he had been carrying. He didn't turn around to look though, too shocked to look away from eyes identical to his own.

"What… how…" He whispered. "Dick?"

Said young man was very, very close to bursting out laughing hysterically. This was better than he was hoping! Bruce was actually speechless.

Chocking back his laughter, he announced, "Bruce, meet Damian al Ghul Wayne."

Bruce was too busy being shocked to respond. Damian looked at him and then turned to Dick.

"I think you broke him."

At that, Dick finally broke down and started laughing hysterically. Bruce managed to shake off his shock and glared at him. "Explain. Now."

Dick managed to curb his laughter. "What's there to explain? I'm assuming you know how babies are made, and I think his last name answers everything else."

Bruce let out a slow breath. "Talia. She never told me."

"From what she told me, I don't think she intended to for a long while more. Actually, I'm not sure if she ever wanted you to meet him. Took me a while to convince her to bring Dami to meet you."

Bruce narrowed his eyes, switching to interrogation mode. "How did you know about him?"

Dick shifted uncomfortably. "I told you about those meeting Slade dragged me to, right? One of those was with the al Ghuls-"

"I know."

"-You do? How? Never mind, you're Batman. Yes, Damian already knew, Talia raised him, what do you expect. Anyway, I met Damian there, revealed my ID to Ra's and Talia because I reacted pretty much the same way you did when I saw his eyes, confused Slade more with my relationship to them, and ended up spending the day with Dami. That's where I've been going when I disappear, by the way. I promised I'd visit him. I also promised not to tell you about him, or else Talia wouldn't have let me visit."

"Oh." Bruce sat back, mulling that over. "Hmmm." He glanced sidelong at the boy who was trying his hardest to maintain his aloof persona with limited success. A child raised by Talia… he couldn't have had much of a childhood. He was probably halfway to being an assassin already. Just based on what he'd seen, the boy was confrontational, likely violent, and probably wouldn't mesh well with the rest of his sons with the apparent exception of Dick. Having him around would probably be more trouble than it was worth.

But this was his son, so Bruce supposed he would just have to take his chances on the boy.

Dick could tell the moment Bruce made his decision and relaxed, his grin widening even more. He had, in truth, been worried about Bruce's reaction, but thank god he seemed to be reacting well.

"Talia agreed to a week's trial period." He said quickly. "After that week, I'll bring Dami back and she'll talk to him, and maybe talk to you, and then we'll go from there. Good?"

Bruce nodded. "Fine." His tone made it clear that he would have the final say in the matter. Dick hid a smile, sitting back and watching as father and son began interacting for the first time.

* * *

Sure enough, a week and a half later, Damian al Ghul Wayne was just Damian Wayne and a permanent fixture at the Wayne household. Dick took him to visit his mother every so often, but he was happy- well, as happy as Damian could be- with his father, even if he and Tim did annoy the heck out of each other. After an entire childhood training to be an assassin, it was a nice change to be training with his father, knowing that sometime in the future, he would likely be running around the rooftops of Gotham in the Robin uniform. Dick would help train him too whenever he was there, and even though he didn't actually live in Wayne Manor with them, Dick came over a lot.

Roughly two months after Damian officially moved in, he finally managed to complete a triple on the trapeze. Dick grinned blindingly and took him out for ice cream in the afternoon and patrol during the night. Perched on the edge of Wayne Towers next to Dick in his Nightwing uniform, Damian realized that this was where he belonged now.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

How sweet :) I love the Dick/Damian dynamic, and I really enjoyed writing this. I couldn't wait to do this chapter, I've been planning it since I wrote that first Damian chapter way back when. Anyway, hope you liked it!

REVIEW! Pleeeeeease?


	33. Zatanna

Who's ready for the next chapter?

**Warning: This is the Chalant chapter. **It's not really big, but this is the reuniting with Zatanna chapter and there will be a kiss, so if you don't like Chalant, you can skip over this one, I guess. Just so you know.

Next chapter will probably be... um... I want to say the alternate ending chapter. Like, what if Slade won. I'm not positive though.

To the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing

* * *

**Roughly an hour after the rescue:**

"Where are they? What's taking them so long?"

Zatanna was frantic. Finally, _finally _they'd found Nightwing, Dick, her boyfriend _and she wasn't allowed to go rescue him_. No matter how much she'd begged, Batman hadn't let her go. _You're compromised. _He said. _You care more than the others, you'll let your emotions get the better of you. _He kept making excuses.

Zatanna hadn't taken it well. She called Batman a hypocrite (which he was), raged against him, pretty much tore apart all his arguments, even tried to fight him. Batman just raised an eyebrow at her and pointed out that _that, that right there, that recklessness and temper, that's why you can't come. Because you'll do that to Slade if you think he's mistreating Nightwing. It'll ruin everything. _

She paused, blinked, and pouted at him. She accused him of tricking her. He didn't respond.

So she stayed behind, waiting for her friends and boyfriend to come home.

* * *

Dick grinned at everyone in the bioship. Both teams had, for this one mission, taken the one ship instead of splitting between the T-ship and the bioship. Dick wasn't sure why.

Bruce had tried to get Dick to ride in the Batplane with him and Superman, but Dick had resisted.

"You're probably going to keep me in Gotham for a while with you." He pointed out. "Let me have a little time with my friends before you whisk me away to the Batcave."

Bruce hadn't argued any further. He knew Dick was right.

So, now Dick was seated in the front of the bioship, chatting with his friends. That had been one of the biggest things that he'd missed, contact with anyone but Slade and Wintergreen. He'd really, _really _missed his friends. He'd missed the easy, unimportant conversations they had, the stupid inside jokes and sayings.

Wally was telling some stupid story about something that had happened while everyone was looking for Dick. Dick laughed along with everyone else but couldn't deny the small sense of unease he was feeling. He just wasn't used to this anymore.

He'd readjust. Hopefully.

"So, Nightwing." Artemis smirked. "Are you looking forward to seeing a certain someone?" Everyone else started grinning too. Dick blinked at her. "Huh?"

Wally snorted. "Don't pretend like you don't know what we're talking about. A certain black haired magician's probably going insane back at the Watchtower."

Dick sighed. Zatanna. He'd missed her a lot too. "She'd probably furious with me for getting kidnapped, isn't she." Dick stated.

Raven smirked. "She might be more mad at Batman at the moment. He made her stay behind."

"Yeah, that probably pissed her off." Dick sat forward and put his head in his hands, but couldn't keep a smile from tugging at his lips. Zatanna was scary when she was angry- she probably gave Batman a run for his money.

He couldn't wait to see her again.

* * *

"_Where are they?!" _Zatanna almost screamed. Seriously, how long was this going to take? Batman had radioed with updates whenever he could (Zatanna suspected it was a sort of apology for making her stay back. At least this way she knew what was going on.), but he'd had to stop when they entered the base. That had been the most nerve-wracking hour or so she'd ever been through. It was worse than the rest of the search had been, because she knew they were _so close, _and he was _right there_, and this could be the end of this kidnapping thing.

She also knew that if this went wrong, she would probably lose Nightwing forever. And she did not want that to happen. She would probably kill Batman if it did.

Batman's voice sounded out in the room. "The mission was a success. ETA ten minutes. Stop panicking Zatanna."

Zaranna scowled. "Bastard."

Black Canary, who was leaning on the wall next to the magician, snickered lightly. "He _is _the Goddamn Batman." She pointed out. "No one said he had to be nice."

Zatanna turned her scowl on the blonde. "Shut up." She muttered. "I just want them to get back already." _I just want Nightwing to get back already. _

Black Canary's smile smile softened. "I know. But you heard the man- ten minutes, and you'll have your man back."

Zatanna blew out a slow breath. 10 minutes. She could do this without freaking out. She _could_. Probably.

Black Canary had to restrain another snicker. Zatanna would be freaking out again within 30 seconds.

Ah, young love.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the two ships finally landed in the Watchtower. The younger heroes quickly exited the bioship, still talking and laughing. The older heroes followed at a more sedate pace.

Batman quickly crossed over to the group, pulling his son away a little. "Are you alright?"

Dick blinked at him, opened his mouth, paused, and closed it again. Finally, he nodded. "I'm alright. Not the best, but…"

Batman nodded. "Go see Zatanna. Then we'll go home."

Dick smiled at him and nodded. He headed towards the door, Bruce following behind. As soon as Dick stepped through the door, he was almost pushed right back out of the room. Zatanna flung herself at him with such force that he was forced to take a step back. His arms automatically moved to embrace her.

"Hey, Z." He murmured. Zatanna pulled back out of the embrace, looked at him, and punched him in the face.

"You go missing for _months, _and the first thing you say is _hey, Z?_" She demanded. "Don't you dare do anything like this to me again."

"I won't." He promised, drawing her back into a hug. "And it's not like I had much of a choice."

"Don't care." Zatanna responded, her voice muffled in his chest. "Don't do it again." Then she looked up and kissed him. Dick kissed her back enthusiastically, still holding her close.

Wally wolf-whistled in the background.

"Shut up KF." Artemis hissed, hitting him on the head.

Zatanna and Dick broke apart and laughed at the two of them. Dick kept an arm wrapped around Zatanna's waist as he turned back towards his friends.

He was back with his family, where he belonged.

* * *

I... honestly had no idea how to end this, so you get this sucky ending. Sorry.

I'm going to be splitting my writing time between this story and my new one, so I'm not sure how often updates will be coming. They will be coming though.

REVIEW! Please


	34. Alternate Ending: Slade Wins

****Hi. Umm... I'm back? And I totally left you hanging for what, two weeks-ish? Sorry. Um. I blame school and tests and AP's. I was kinda too busy freaking out over my APUSH exam to type. Um. Anyway. I'm back now.

So, this chapter is the alternate ending. I swear I meant it to be more lighthearted but it got kinda depressing at the end. Oh well. I kinda like it like this.

I totally stole most of the beginning section from the real ending. Just in case your recognize it.

This alternate ending may or may not be expanded on. After I do everything else, of course, but I think there may be some potential. IDK. We'll see how it goes.

Oh, and for anyone reading _Dimension Hopping_ and the rest of that long title, I'll probably update it tomorrow. Or Saturday. Definitely by Sunday.

Enjoy the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: It's an AU of and AU. I think that indicates that I own nothing.

* * *

**In some random, alternate timeline-thing:**

Punch. Dodge. Kick. Lunge. Dodge. Throw some Batarangs. Kick. Punch.

It was like a dance. Batman could tell why Dick enjoyed fighting against Slade so much; he was an excellent fighter. Batman was giving this fight his all, but he wasn't sure if it would be enough.

Kick. Punch. Duck.

He did have one thing on his side though- he was desperate. He needed to get Dick back. So he would give this fight his all, and more. He wasn't going to give up. And if he did lose this fight, he would find them again. He would keep fighting for Dick.

Attack. Defend.

An opening.

A tiny one, but an opening nonetheless.

Slade struck quickly with a punch-kick combo, throwing Batman off balance. The villain didn't let up his attack, landing blow after blow, culminating with a roundhouse kick that sent Batman flying into the wall. He didn't get up.

Slade took a deep breath and stood back.

He'd won.

* * *

Dick leaned back in his chair, eyes locked on the screen in front of him, taking in the picture of Slade standing over a motionless Batman. He let out a slow breath.

"Well, that's that." He said quietly. "I should probably go make sure Slade doesn't kill him."

He got up and started towards the door, but was stopped when Wally grabbed his arm.

"Bro… does this mean…"

"I'm staying with Slade." Dick said firmly. "He won, and now I have to keep our deal." He paused and looked around the room, meeting everyone's eyes. "Try to stop me and I _will _fight you."

Wally hesitated for a moment before releasing his bro's arm.

This time Raven moved forward to stop Dick's departure. "This is what you want?" She asked quietly. Dick nodded once.

Raven bit her lip and stood back. No one else tried to stop him, realizing that this was what had to happen. Dick walked to the door and hesitated, looking back at them for a moment.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "Goodbye."

He disappeared out the door, leaving his family behind. He was Renegade now.

* * *

Slade stared down at his unconscious foe. He'd won- _actually _won. He'd beaten the heroes, and how his apprentice truly was his. Now, Renegade would be fighting to stay with him, instead of not intervening on anyone's behalf. He could truly introduce Renegade to the world as his apprentice, his partner, his student.

Footsteps came up behind him. Slade knew it was Renegade.

"I'm not going to kill him." Slade said, not looking at the young man. "Not yet, at least. I want him to know what he'd lost."

Renegade didn't respond.

"Did the other heroes leave?" Slade asked. It didn't really matter, he and Renegade would be leaving this base anyway, but he wanted to gather some of his equipment before they left, which would be so much easier without the junior heroes running around.

"Yes." Renegade answered, moving to stand next to him. "Well, the base at least; I think they want to get Batman back before they leave the area for good."

Slade nodded, turning away from Batman. "Grab your stuff. We're leaving too- it's no good staying where the heroes can find us."

Renegade didn't acknowledge his words, staring at his fallen mentor. "He won't stop looking you know. He knows about the deals, and the Titans or the Team will tell him about what I said- but he won't stop looking."

"I know." Slade responded. But, watching at Renegade turned away from his old mentor to obey his instructions before leaving with him, Slade couldn't bring himself to care as much as he probably should. The Bat would likely rain hell down on him if he ever found Slade again, but Slade would fight back- and so would Renegade.

Ending his musings, Slade turned and left the room, flicking off the lights behind him. He was done here.

* * *

Batman woke up slowly. Groaning slightly, he sat up and opened his eyes. He looked around the room he was in, realizing that it was his room in the Watchtower. He blinked, confused; how had he gotten there? The last he could remember, he was in Slade's base-

Batman froze. Slade. Dick. The fight.

He'd lost.

The door slid open in front of him as Superman entered the room. Superman smiled weakly at him. "Good, you're awake. We were starting to get worried."

"Dick?" Batman croaked, throat sore. He didn't care about pleasantries right now, he needed to know what had happened to his son.

The weak smile slid off of Superman face. "We lost." He said quietly, confirming Bruce's worst fears. "Dick left with Slade. He's not ours anymore."

Batman slumped against the headboard of the bed, eyes closed. "No." He breathed. His eyes snapped open and he glared at Superman. "No." He said in a stronger voice. "We're not going to let that happen."

"Bruce- he wants this. He left willingly, told the teams not to stop or fight him. He'll be fighting for Slade now."

"I don't care." Batman hissed. "I'll find him again, and I'll get him back."

"Bruce…"

"Get out Clark." Batman snarled, furious that the other hero would even _think _of leaving Dick with that psychopath. Superman narrowed his eyes but got up and walked towards the door.

"None of us want to give up on him." He said before he left, not looking at Bruce. "But it's his choice. He chose."

The door slid shut behind him as a single tear slid down Bruce's cheek.

* * *

Three days later, Bruce Wayne received an email.

_I'm sorry, Dad. But this is what I chose, who I am now. Please don't drive yourself insane looking for me. Don't forget about Tim. _

_I told Slade who I am. It doesn't really matter now. Dick Grayson won't be making many appearances anymore. He promised not to do anything with your ID._

_I don't want to fight you, or anyone else, but I will if you insist on fighting me. _

_Bye, Dad. _

Bruce cancelled the rest of his meetings for the day and went home. He wrote up a missings person report for Dick. He made a plan to fake Dick's death. He left them both on the Batcomputer in case he ever decided what to do.

* * *

A week later, Renegade made his official debut as Slade's student and partner.

* * *

A month later, Renegade pulled off his first official independent heist.

* * *

Two months later, Batman and Renegade would meet again for the first time since Renegade officially began a villain. They talked. Batman failed at convincing Renegade to return to the heroes. They fought. Batman didn't lost the fight, but he didn't win it either.

* * *

Three months later, the Team was ambushed during a routine patrol around Happy Harbor. Turns out Dick was behind it. He wanted to talk to them. Just because he was a villain didn't mean he couldn't talk to his friends, even if they were on different sides. He let them go an hour later and ambushed the Titans the next day. He would ambush them every so often after that to talk. He never did the same for the League.

* * *

Half a year later, Dick Grayson was officially declared missing. Bruce knew he wasn't coming back, but couldn't bring himself to kill his civilian ID.

* * *

A year later, Renegade was a villain. Period. Everyone knew Nightwing wasn't coming back. He was Slade's protégée.

* * *

Many years later, Slade handed control of his criminal empire to Renegade. Renegade was now one of the League's most wanted criminals. He controlled a vast criminal network around the world. He was _the _villain.

Batman couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had won the fight.

* * *

And that's the end of the chapter. Told you it got kinda depressing.

I have absolutely no clue which chapter I'm going to write next, so if there are preferences...

REVIEW!


	35. Back to Jump

Um. This took a while. Sorry. But we've got a chapter now! That's good, right?**  
**

Anyway... the chapter. Right. So, this is supposed to be the 'Titans get back together' chapter, and it sorta is, but it didn't really turn out how I was expecting. I started typing it out like a normal reunion, you know, but it was sorta boring. We've already gone through that. And then Michael showed up out of nowhere and inserted himself into the story. He's an OC. I have no idea where he came from. He just kinda appeared. It made the chapter more interesting though, so I left him in. Maybe I'll sneak him in some other time.

* * *

**Four months after the rescue: **

It was an ordinary day in Jump City. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and for once no villain was acting like an idiot. Which was nice.

The Titans were just chilling in the tower. Raven, like always, was meditating, Star was playing with Silkie, and Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing some video game. In short, nothing was really going on. As far as the Titans knew, it was just a normal, unremarkable day that would eventually join the blur of memories of random, unremarkable days.

Oh, how wrong they were.

* * *

Dick wasn't sure if he was excited or nervous. Today was almost as big of a day as the day when Young Justice formed. After all, today would be the day when, hopefully, he would rejoin the Titans.

He'd been staying in Gotham with Bruce for the past four months. At first, he'd just wanted to stay home for a while. Then, Bruce had wanted him to stay a bit longer. Then Damian came, and, well, he was the only one that Damian was comfortable around. He couldn't just abandon the kid with Bruce, who had the emotional range of a teaspoon, and Tim, who wasn't exactly a fan of him. So he'd stayed another month.

Now, though, Damian was… fairly comfortable at the manor. At least, he wasn't trying to kill everyone every five minutes. Which, for Damian, meant that he liked Bruce and Tim. Somewhat. Enough not to murder them, anyway.

So, he'd brought it up during dinner. He'd announced that he wanted to move back to Jump, to rejoin the Titans. He missed it. He missed fighting crime, he missed his friends.

Bruce hadn't wanted to let him go at first, but Dick talked him into it. Damian had acted angry, and then like he didn't care, but Dick knew he was upset. He promised to visit often, maybe bring Damian to stay with him in Jump for a while. But he had to leave. He had to go back.

Now he was, and he wasn't sure if he was happy or sad about it.

* * *

Dick arrived in Jump City in the middle of the afternoon. The Titans didn't know he was coming, so they weren't expecting him to be at the Tower at any specific time. He chose to wander around town for a little, relive old memories and reacquaint himself with the town.

He wandered past the pizza restaurant, the video game store that BB and Cyborg would drag him to, the bookstore that he would willingly visit with Raven. He grinned. It was good to be back. He loved Gotham, but Jump was his home now.

It was a bit strange being back though. So much had happened, but Jump was pretty much the same. The same stores, the same people, the same feelings. He didn't quite fit anymore. He'd changed.

He shook his head. Too much musing. With a slight grin, he turned and jogged towards Titans Tower. It was about time he rejoined his team.

* * *

For the citizens of Jump, having picnics or hanging out on the shore near the island where Titans Tower was located was a popular activity. Of course, the tourists would camp there for days, trying to get a glimpse of the Titans. Most did; some were really lucky and got to witness a battle, or see some of the other heroes there. Some bragged about how they'd been there when the League visited. The League! Of course, they weren't always believed.

Michael was one of those citizens who enjoyed hanging out on the shore. He was there often, and usually talked with the tourists a bit or gave them tips about when the Titans might be there. Quite a few people approached him for help; he was one of those people that people trusted instantly; he had a nice, open face, and spoke with a slight accent. In return, he got a bit of pocket money. He was fresh out of college and needed to repay some loans, so it was a win for everyone.

On this particular day, there weren't many tourists. It was known that Nightwing wasn't in Jump, Raven had left the Tower earlier, and the villains were quiet, so it wasn't likely that the heroes would be appearing. That didn't prevent Michael from hanging out there, of course. He liked it there; the water was peaceful and it was quiet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young man stroll up to the shore. The guy was tall, black-haired, and was wearing a red hoody and blue jeans, and had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. Michael didn't recognize the guy, which meant he was probably a tourist. The guy just stood there, hands in his pocket, staring out at the Tower. Michael got up from where he was sitting and strolled over to the guy's side.

"My name's Michael. You new around here?" He drawled. The guy glanced at him. "Nope." He answered quietly. "Just haven't been here for a while. Bit more than half a year, actually." He didn't give his name.

"Mmm." Michael nodded. Probably wouldn't need help then. He figured he might as well stay and talk for a little anyway. It was wasn't like he had anything better to do.

"Where've you been then?" He asked, trying to prolong the conversation. The guy looked at him, lips quirking up in a small smile. "Nosy, are you." He acknowledged. "Gotham, mostly. Metropolis for a bit in the middle. I assume you live here- I remember seeing you hanging out here a lot."

Michael grinned back, glad the other man hadn't taken offense at his question. "Yup. I think of it of my job- I help out the tourists, give them tips for their hero-watching. Why on earth would you leave this awesome city for _Gotham_, of all places?"

The guy laughed. "My family lives there. Haven't seen them for a while. We've been arguing. It was only supposed to be a week, really, but… things happened."

"Everything ok now?"

"Right as rain." The man answered easily. "At least, as soon as I get off my behind and go surprise my friends with my return. They've been waiting for a while."

"You should probably stop staring at the Tower and go back to town then." Michael advised. The guy smirked, a knowing, _I know something you don't _smirk. "That wouldn't really help. I probably should get moving though, before one of them realizes I'm back."

"Too late." A voice said dryly behind them. Michael turned around and almost had a heart attack- it was Raven! Actually talking to them! Sure, he hero-watched a lot, but he'd never actually met them!

The other guy didn't seem as excited. "Oops." He said sheepishly. "Um. I'm back?"

"I can see that." Raven eyed him. "About time too. Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"I wanted to surprise you. Didn't work that well I guess. I didn't think you'd recognize me right away." The guy said. Michael looked back and forth between the two in confusion- what the heck?

Then, shockingly, Raven smiled. "I wouldn't have, if not for the bond, idiot." Even more shockingly, she flew forward and gave the guy a hug. "Welcome back."

"Huh?" Michael's mouth finally decided to work. Kinda. The guy turned to him with a sheepish smile. "Sorry. Michael, this is Raven, Raven this is Michael. Apparently he help the tourists, which is why he's here all the time."

Raven nodded at him. Michael still wasn't caught up. "You two know each other?"

"Yup." The guy said cheerfully. He looked over at Raven. "Oh! I swiped a book from B's library for you. It's about a whole bunch of different 'magic' systems- not sure why B has it, since he hates magic, but whatever. I think Zatara added to it a bit. And maybe Jason Blood. I figured you'd be interested in it. He also told me that since you kinda know who I am already, you're welcome to go swipe some more. I'll give you the location later."

"Thank you." She accepted the book. "I'm going to go back to the Tower, are you coming?"

"I'll meet you there." He smiled. "I should probably sort Michael out first. I owe him an explanation at least."

Raven nodded and shot off towards the Tower. The guy turned towards Michael. He blinked. "Are you alright?"

"Who are you?" Michael blurted out. "I mean, are you a hero or what?"

"Yeah." The guy rubbed the back of his neck. "Um. I'm Nightwing, actually. Just not in uniform right now, obviously. Like I said, I've been away."

Michael almost fainted. "You're _Nightwing_?" He asked weakly. He'd been standing there having a casual conversation with _Nightwing_. Unreal.

The guy- Nightwing- smiled. "Yup." He said, popping the 'p'. "Congrats, you're the first person to know I'm back. Besides Raven. Look, I really probably should go, so I guess I'll see you around? I'll stop and say hi every so often, now that I know who you are."

Michael was speechless. "Um… yes. Sure. That would be nice."

Nightwing grinned, amused by his reaction. "So, see you sometime!" With that, he took out his communicator and pressed a button on it that apparently made the bridge between the shore and the tower come up. He waved and started jogging down it. Michael just stood and stared.

_Unreal. _

* * *

One day later, the Titans went out and fought some villain, and Nightwing's return was confirmed. Speculation was rife about why he'd been gone for so long, but no one was really sure. When he heard the theories, Michael just grinned. He knew more than they did, even if he didn't know the whole story.

And, like he'd promised, Nightwing did indeed stop by and chat every so often. He introduced Michael to the rest of the Titans, although they never really talked to him. Nightwing, however, would usually visit in civvies, although he did stop by once in costume, right before the Titans went on a week-long mission somewhere, to tell him that the Titans would be away for a few days. He passed the info on to the tourists, many of whom had seen Nightwing stop to talk to him.

Needless to say, he got quite a bit more business.

* * *

End chapter!

So, I hope you like Michael, or at least don't hate me too much for introducing an OC. I think he's my first one. Like, ever. Huh. Did I just reach some fanfic author milestone or something?

Anyway, next chapter... I think will be Dick and Slade meeting up again after all of this. It might take me a while though, I've been pretty busy.

REVIEW! Please.


	36. The Return of Nightwing article

****Ok, so I know that this isn't what I promised, but for some reason that chapter's fighting me tooth and nail. IDK why, it's not like I haven't written Nightwing and Slade interaction, but whatever. So, since that one's taking a while, I felt guilty and took an hour to type this for you all. It's kinda silly, but whatever. Hope you enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

* * *

**Two weeks after Nightwing's return to Jump:**

**Jump City Gazette**

The Return of Nightwing

written by Bill Williamson

As everyone knows, two weeks ago our city saw the return of one of its favorite heroes- Nightwing. After almost half a year away, many of the citizens of Jump were glad to see him return safe and healthy. At least, I was. So were my kids, who are huge fans of the Titans. A few days later, though, my kids were asking me some questions that I couldn't answer. Questions like _where was Nightwing? Why was he gone for so long? _Questions that I'm sure more people than just my kids were asking.

The questions kept piling up. Here's another fact that many of you readers probably know; in the past 14 days, various members of the Justice League and other adult heroes have visited Titans Tower no less than ten times. Some villains have been spotted there too, namely Red-X and Catwoman. The last mysterious visitor is a young, sunglass-wearing boy who often visits along with the League. Added to the list were questions like _why was the League visiting? Were the Titans being broken up by the League? Why the villains? Who's the kid?_

There have been numerous theories on the subject, but no one is really sure. Until now, that is. Nightwing consented to give me an interview, in which many of those questions were answered- and boy, some of those answers will knock your socks off. You see, Nightwing not only answered the questions I asked, but the questions we didn't know to ask. What follows below is an exact transcription of my conversation with him. We met in one of the Titan's main haunts- the Pizza restaurant. To my shock, Nightwing showed up in civilian clothing rather than his uniform, which is what started off our conversation. I'll skip over the introductions and go straight to the first question:

Bill: This isn't on my list of questions, but I've gotta ask- the civilian clothes?

Nightwing: _shrugs. _I got used to them again while I was away. I've started wearing them a bit more around the Tower, and I didn't want to draw so much attention when I came to the interview. Plus, I didn't want to get mobbed by fans while doing this. _grins. _

Bill: That brings me to my next question, actually; why were you away? I assume that if you weren't wearing your Nightwing uniform, you weren't on hero business.

Nightwing: Um… no. It started out as a visit to my family, actually, but it kinda got out of hand. A villain got involved, and well…

Bill: Can you tell us any details?

Nightwing: Nope. Sorry. It's over now, anyway, villain's been caught and all that. So, yeah.

Bill: Alright. You said you were visiting family. I know that the general opinion is that you have no family, though, so would you like to set the record straight?

Nightwing: _sighs_ It's complicated. Technically, my family's all dead- I'm an orphan. And then I was adopted. My adopted dad and I got into a huge argument, several actually, and I left. Created the persona of Nightwing, came here, and met the Titans. This is all common knowledge, actually, which is why I can tell you all of this.

Bill: …I'm not sure it is, actually. Care to enlighten us?

Nightwing: It really is, it's just that no one knew where to look. Jump doesn't have much to do with Gotham.

Bill:…. you're just teasing me here. Fine, I'll bite. Why Gotham?

Nighwing: It where I lived for quite a while. Wasn't born there, but I was pretty much raised there.

Bill: Really? I thought you might have been from this coast. Ever see Batman?

Nightwing: *snickers* Yup. Quite often actually.

Bill: Why do I feel like I'm missing something here?

Nightwing: Because you are. Batman's the one who trained me, so yes, I saw him.

Bill: Wait, _Batman _trained you? I thought he only trained the Robins.

Nightwing: Don't forget Batgirl.

Bill: Right, and Batgirl. So why'd he train you?

Nightwing: *raises an eyebrow* You just answered your own question.

Bill: I don't understand. Again.

Nightwing: I _was _a Robin. The first one, actually. I'm sure you've heard about the fights between Batman and I, everyone seems to have. I couldn't take it in Gotham anymore, ditched the Robin suit and broke ties with Batman. Completely. Created Nightwing, ran into the Titans, and the rest's history.

Bill: *is speechless.*

A bit of spluttering, stammering, and snickering on Nightwing's part ensued. I think it's safe to say that I was not expecting that. Who would have been? My momentary lapse of coherency was mainly due to the shock of it, although I must admit to being a bit of a Robin fanboy back in the day. My kids loved the first one, and they were pretty upset when he disappeared. So I had to pause the interview until I stopped freaking out. Once I recovered, and Nightwing stopped laughing, the interview continued.

Bill: Sorry about that. Um. I assume that's why the League has been visiting?

Nightwing: Partially. Most of them just come because they want to see me, yes, but Bats and Supes have come in an official capacity too. We're working on making a partnership between the Titans and the League. You know, we handle training the younger heroes who will eventually graduate into the League, we split major disasters, etc. That kind of stuff.

Bill: Still, they've been coming a lot. 10 times in 14 days. There's been tourists all over.

Nightwing: I know, Michael told me. He's the kid who helps out the tourists by the bay, you know? We're friends, and the other day he thanked me for the increased business. He was joking, but I know that even he was a bit overwhelmed by everything. It's nice that they've all visited though; I missed them.

Bill: I thought you didn't like the League. At least, that's the general opinion, though now I'm guessing it's wrong.

Nightwing: I don't hate the League! I never hated them! Seriously, I was just trying to avoid Batman. Jeez.

Bill: Ok. Moving on… while we're on the topic of the League visiting, who's the kid who's come with them?

Nightwing: He's a Robin-in-training. He won't take over from the current Robin for a while, but Bats took him in. Can't say anything else, sorry.

Bill: That's alright, I'm getting more out of this interview than I expected anyway. So, why do Catwoman and Red-X visit?

Nightwing: Catwoman's close to the Batfamily, everyone knows that. And Red-X… well, everyone knows already so I guess it can't hurt. He was the second Robin. He had a fight with Batman too and came out here to bug me.

Bill: As a villain?

Nightwing: *shrugs* I don't condone it, but I haven't really objected either. He's happy, so I'm happy. He usually returns whatever he steals anyway.

Bill: If you say so. This is my last question; now that you've reconciled with the League, what's going to happen with the Titans?

Nightwing: Nothing. We're going to stay as a team and do what we've always done. We might collaborate a bit with the League, but we'll remain independent. I might spend some time in Gotham every so often, but other than that...

Bill: I think I speak for everyone in Jump when I say that I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Nightwing.

Nightwing: No problem.

I think it's fair to say that most of these answers were not expected. Better get used to seeing the League around folks, I don't think they're going to stop visiting anytime soon. Personally, I'm glad that they met up with Nightwing again; everyone deserves to be around those who care about them, and it's pretty obvious that they have a close bond with Nightwing. At the same time, though, I can't help but be glad that he returned. Welcome back to Jump City, Nightwing.

* * *

So, newspaper article. IDK, I thought it would be different and interesting. What'd you think?

Hopefully I'll get the Nightwing/Slade chapter up soon. Sorry for the delay.

REVIEW!


	37. AN of DOOM

Ok, so, I'm leaving for camp tomorrow. It's sleep-away. Yay! I love camp. This is a good thing.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to finish writing the next chapter. This is a bad thing. Sorry.

What this means is that, unfortunately, there will not be a new chapter until mid-August, when I get back from camp. I'm really, really sorry. However, I will no doubt write up a whole bunch of chapters in my notebook-of-writing while I'm at camp, so I **will be continuing this story **after I get back. Probably at a faster pace too.

So, just hang tight for a while. I'll be back, promise. Until then, have a great summer.


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